You are invited to participate in one or more of the Action Step Webinars for the updated WI Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan 2015-2020. Each of these webinars will review and discuss proposed Action Steps for one of the Priority Tables in the WI CCC Plan 2015-2020. Thank you to those who provided ideas for Action Steps through the emailed survey sent in January 2015. All of the survey responses and proposed Action Steps will be reviewed in their respective webinars.

Webinar Information

Purpose: The Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Control Program is soliciting proposals for "CCC Implementation Grants" that support the implementation of the WI CCC Plan 2015-2020. The intent is to fund local projects that address cancer prevention and control efforts in Wisconsin, linking directly to the priorities or strategies in the WI CCC Plan 2015-2020. The projects will be implemented from April 2015 - October 2016.

Number of grants and amount of funding:  The total number of awards and the final amount awarded is dependent upon the number and scope of projects submitted and funds available. We will be awarding applicants grants ranging from $10,000 - $20,000 over 18 months.

Who can apply? Community based organizations, healthcare systems, health departments and other health related agencies and nonprofit organizations that are based in Wisconsin, serve Wisconsinites and work on cancer related issues. The applicant organization must be a member of the Wisconsin Cancer Council and an organization can only submit one project proposal.

Important Dates to Remember:  

Please remember proposals are due electronically on Friday, February 27, 2015. The Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan 2015-2020 Framework, including priorities and strategies can now be found at www.wicancer.org. 

Save the Date! 

We are pleased to announce the 2015 Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Control Summit will be held on May 28, 2015 at The Madison Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin. Please stay tuned and regularly visit the 2015 Summit webpage for upcoming details. 

Within the last month, two Wisconsin tobacco related reports were released: The WI Burden of Tobacco Report and WI State of Tobacco Control.  These reports provide a current picture of tobacco use and prevention in Wisconsin.  While smoking rates in adults and youth have decreased over the past few years, the WI Burden of Tobacco Report states that the annual economic toll of tobacco in Wisconsin was approximately $3 billion paid in direct health care costs and $1.6 billion in lost productivity.  The WI State of Tobacco Control released by the American Lung Association found that in 2014 Wisconsin continues to have mixed results in enacting tobacco control policies: 

• Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Funding - Grade F
• Tobacco Taxes - Grade B
• Smokefree Air - Grade A
• Access to Cessation Services - Grade F

For a quick look at  WI tobacco prevention and control numbers, check out the WI Tobacco Prevention & Control Data Look for January 2015 here.

A recently published article in The New England Journal of Medicine "Helping Smokers Quit - Opportunities Created by the Affordable Care Act"highlights the Affordable Care Act's guidance for tobacco cessation treatment coverage. In summary, a group health plan or health insurance issuer are required to cover tobacco-use counseling and interventions. Requirements are met if insurers and health plans provide the following, without cost sharing or prior authorization: 

1. Screening of all patients for tobacco use; and
2. At least two tobacco-cessation attempts per year for enrollees who use tobacco, with coverage of each quit attempt including:

• Four tobacco-cessation counseling sessions, each at least 10 minutes long (including telephone, group, and individual counseling), and
• Any FDA-approved tobacco-cessation medications (whether prescription or over-the-counter) for a 90-day treatment regimen when prescribed by a health care provider*

*As of January 2015, FDA approved smoking cessation medications include: five nicotine medications (patch, gum, lozenge, nasal spray, and inhaler) and two non-nicotine pills (bupropion and varenicline). 

In January, two members of the Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Control team, Sarah Mroz and Dr. Amy Godecker, attended a meeting at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida to collaborate with other health professionals from around the country on increasing HPV vaccination rates. The WI CCC Program is one of eighteen recipients of a National Cancer Institute grant that aims to address low HPV vaccination rates among adolescents.

Sarah Mroz and Dr. Amy Godecker with other Tampa meeting attendees.

The WI CCC Program has hired Sarah Kerch as the Events & Communications Coordinator. In this role, Sarah will manage all WI CCC events and communication efforts, including the biannual Summit and the revision of the WI CCC website. Sarah returns to the WI CCC Program after a 4.5 year absence. During this time Sarah received her Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and gained experience in gender-based research and the evaluation of community-based maternal and child health programs. Most recently, Sarah served as the Grantee Coordinator for the Illinois Department of Public Health's Community Transformation Grant through CDC. 

Couleecap, Inc.

Couleecap focuses on the social determinants of health, including poverty, housing, food and transportation, seeking innovative strategies to combat poverty in the Coulee Region of Wisconsin.