Colon Cancer Awareness Month Kicks Off: Kentucky Rallies

March is Colon Cancer Awareness month in the U.S., but screening rates remain disappointingly low. Kentucky, a state heavily affected by colon-cancer deaths, is the first to launch promotional events this March.

Colorectal Cancer, or colon cancer, is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, with more than 50,000 people dying from it each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The American Cancer Society (ACS) says that the lifetime risk of developing colon cancer in the average person is one in 20, but according to CDC reports, there are over 20 million adults in the U.S. who have never had a potentially lifesaving screening for the disease.

Now that it's March, organizations like the CDC, the ACS, and even officials from the state of Kentucky have begun to renew their efforts to convince people to get their colonoscopies.

Kentucky is reportedly the first state to involve itself with Colon Cancer Awareness Month, scheduled to launch a month of cancer awareness activities, starting this Friday with "dress in blue day." Days prior to the start of March, the Kentucky state capitol building lit its dome up with blue lights, and began releasing colon cancer awareness pamphlets throughout the state.

Why Kentucky? According to numerous statistics, Kentucky has been one of the top five states with the most colon cancer related deaths every year for over a decade. Because the cancer, if caught in the first stages, can be successfully treated 90 percent of the time, high death rates in a state indicate that its citizens are not getting their recommended screenings.

According to the CDC, only about 65 percent, of all U.S. citizens are regularly getting colon cancer screenings, but Kentucky's alarming morality rate implies that the statistic for screening in the state are even lower.

The Colon Cancer Prevention Project, founded in Kentucky to aid colon cancer awareness campaigns in 2004, has been working with the ACS to organize colon cancer awareness events not only throughout Kentucky, but the entire country. This year, they plan to organize media tours, awareness walks, and the sharing of stories from progressed-colon-cancer survivors who wish to urge their fellow U.S. citizens to get a screening.

While Colon Cancer Awareness Month only lasts until the end of March, the CDC and ACS will continue to promote colon cancer knowledge by providing pamphlets and educational resources res year-round.