Tuesday, 11 May 2010
New York Health Department Issues Cancer Map
The New York Health Department is the first state to publish a very controversial cancer map this week. A cancer map highlights the count of instances of cancer in various New York census blocks. Some may consider these cancer maps to be very useful in determining a place to live but they could give the public misrepresentations of the raw data.
People can highlight a portion of the map and see the number of cancer instances that occur in the area. Probably one of the most important aspects of the map will allow people to see where there are brown fields, superfund sites or buildings that store chemicals.
Yet the map doesn’t take into account many important aspects, including nursing homes, cancer patients’ ages, family histories and other biological factors. Also the map doesn’t account for environmental factors and smoking habits in particular areas.
The director of public affairs for the New York Health Department, Claudia Hutton said, “We felt an overlay of environmental-type facilities with new cancer cases might lead people to make incorrect conclusions…to be most useful to the public, health information needs to be provided with context.”
The map is estimated to cost $3.2 million a year and was completed within the budget allocated. Now the Health Department wants to work on the map to pinpoint outliers which will be ready by the end of the year.
Until then, New Yorkers may be confused by the data and should acknowledge that the map does not include all of the missing pieces.
Technorati Tags: health care new york cancer cancer map
