October 17, 2006

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — The nation's first centralized Web-based resource for credible cancer information materials in Asian and Pacific Islander languages drew 18,523 viewers in its first six months, according to a progress report presented Monday at the 11th World Congress on Internet in Medicine in Toronto. The traffic is significant for a site that helps health-care providers access authoritative cancer information in such languages as Chinese, Hmong and Tongan.

The Asian Pacific Islander Cancer Education Materials Web portal was launched March 24 as a joint project of the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness Research and Training, based at UC Davis Cancer Center, and the American Cancer Society. The project is funded by the National Cancer Institute.

“This confirms the urgent need for authoritative cancer education materials for lay audiences in Asian and Pacific Islander languages,” said Moon S. Chen, Jr., principal investigator of AANCART and associate director for cancer disparities and research at UC Davis Cancer Center. “Education and awareness are critical if we are going to reduce the unique, unusual and unnecessary cancer burden faced by Asian Americans.”

The APICEM Web portal, located at www.aancart.org/apicem and www.cancer.org/apicem, is a one-stop source for easy retrieval of authoritative cancer education materials designed for lay audiences. It offers health-care providers a tool to search for pre-screened cancer information by specific Asian or Pacific Islander language, by cancer site or by cancer topic. Materials do not actually reside on the APICEM site but on the respective Web pages of contributing organizations. All materials catalogued on the site have undergone expert review for medical accuracy, linguistic appropriateness and cultural relevance.

The APICEM Web portal provides links to print materials written in the following languages: Khmer, Chamorro, Chinese, Hawaiian, Hmong, Ilokano, Korean, Samoan, Tagalog, Tongan and Vietnamese, as well as English-language materials culturally tailored for native Hawaiian populations. More languages and materials will be added as the site matures.

In the first six months, visitors accessed thousands of pages of cancer information materials. Titles include “The ABC's of Hepatitis,” a two-page fact sheet in Thai on how to prevent chronic liver disease and liver cancer, and “A Beautiful Future: A Calendar for a Happy and Healthy Life,” in Vietnamese, containing a schedule of recommended cancer screening exams for adults.

More than 12 organizations developed the materials, including: the American Cancer Society; the California Department of Health Services; the San Francisco-based Chinese Community Health Plan; the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington in Seattle; the Hmong Women's Heritage Association in Sacramento; UCLA; and the Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project at UC San Francisco.

In addition, four National Cancer Institute-funded Community Networks Programs contributed content or provided support for the Web portal: 'Imi Hale, the Native Hawaiian Cancer Network in Honolulu; the Asian Community Cancer Network at Temple University in Philadelphia; the American Samoa Community Cancer Network at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago; and the Weaving an Islander Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training at California State University, Fullerton.