“Poor, minority and rural residents are left behind” in cancer screenings, says USA Today, “and experts say there’s no excuse.” The newspaper said it worked with the American Association of Central Cancer Registries to see where deaths from cancer exceed the rates expected for how often it strikes. “States faring worst include Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, causing untold suffering and pushing up health costs for everyone,” says the story headlned, “Found too late: Cancer preys on rural Americans.” States with the best rates were North Dakota, Rhode Island and Montana.
“But getting preventive screenings and quality treatment is much tougher for people who struggle daily just to get by. So cancer preys upon the poor. State-by-state rankings for poverty closely mirror those for cancer deaths,” says USA Today in the deep-dive story written by Laura Ungar. Nearly a quarter of Americans live in rural areas “but only 10 percent of physicians practice there,” says USA Today. Cancer specialists are scarce in rural areas, it says.