Gov. Steve Beshear has announced Kentucky will get $2.6 million in federal grant money over the next five years to encourage people in Louisville and Appalachia to be screened for colon cancer.
Beshear said Tuesday that nearly 9,500 people die from cancer in Kentucky every year, the most of any state in the country. Beshear has set a goal of reducing cancer deaths 10 percent by 2019. One of his main strategies for doing this is to increase the number of people who are screened for colon, lung and breast cancer.
The money comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says the five-year survival rate of colon cancer is 90 percent when detected and treated early. Statistics show screenings are lower among the poor, black men and people with low education levels.