New Mexico Cancer Council

The New Mexico Cancer Council is a public/private partnership working to reduce the burden of cancer in New Mexico.

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Who are we?

The New Mexico Cancer Council is a collaborative effort of diverse public and private partners working together to attack cancer in New Mexico through the development, implementation and evaluation of the New Mexico Cancer Plan. Our goal is to increase access to information, prevention and treatment using innovative and effective programs and policies thus reducing the human and economic burden of cancer and improving the outcomes and quality of life for New Mexicans.

What does the New Mexico Cancer Council do?

The New Mexico Cancer Council’s goals are:

  • To provide an overview of the current status of cancer in New Mexico. 
  • To develop strategies to reduce overall cancer incidence and mortality.
  • To provide a forum for communication of cancer-related issues and activities among community groups.
  • To provide an improved quality of life for those affected by cancer in New Mexico.

Who can join the New Mexico Cancer Council?

Membership in the New Mexico Cancer Council is open to any organization or person who is interested in reducing the burden of cancer in New Mexico. The Cancer Council’s growing membership includes organizations and individuals who represent diverse professions – all of whom are concerned with alleviating the burden and suffering cancer causes in our state. Constituencies include patient care, research, emotional support services, education, advocacy and policy and media.

While an Executive Committee oversees achievement of the New Mexico Cancer Plan’s goals and objectives, and serves as the decision-making body of the New Mexico Cancer Council, the Cancer Council acts in an advisory capacity to the Executive Committee. Workgroups may be formed as appropriate to address specific issues. There are currently six active workgroups.

The New Mexico Cancer Plan

The New Mexico Cancer Plan is a comprehensive strategy to address the impact of cancer on communities throughout New Mexico. It is the culmination of a multiyear effort by the New Mexico Cancer Council and its state, regional and local partners.

New Mexico Cancer Plan
The New Mexico Cancer Plan

serves as a blueprint for cancer control in our state. The Plan resulted from many hours of work and thoughtful contributions by the Cancer Plan revision committee, the Executive Committee and the numerous valued partners and stakeholders throughout the state.

Implementing the New Mexico Cancer Plan in Native American Communities

A separate section of the Cancer Plan focuses on the cancer-related needs and strengths specific to tribal communities.

Workgroups

The goals and objectives of the New Mexico Cancer Plan are accomplished through the dedicated efforts of New Mexico Cancer Council workgroups. These workgroups address specific issues; membership in each workgroup is open to New Mexico Cancer Council members as well as members of the general public. Current workgroups are described below.

group of women wearing pink

Albuquerque Cancer Coalition

A coalition of cancer support agencies, hospital treatment centers and governmental agencies uniting to inform the community of resources, to educate, to advocate and to meet the needs of cancer patients and their families.

For more information, contact
Chrisann Gray at cgray@casanm.org

Colorectal Cancer Workgroup

This workgroup’s focus is to promote the prevention and control of colorectal cancer in New Mexico, working to reach the 80% in Every Community and New Mexico Cancer Plan goal of 80% of eligible adults screened for colorectal cancer.

For more information, contact
Prajatka Adsul​ at padsul@salud.unm.edu.

Native American woman and young girl

Native American Workgroup

This workgroup will identify the needs of Native American populations to provide guidance to the NM Cancer Council regarding NM Native American cancer issues and how the Cancer Plan’s goal areas may better relate to these issues.

For more information, contact
Janet Quintana-Cook, janet@janetcook.com

New Mexico Cancer Patient Navigation Network

This workgroup is focused on improving access to cancer-related services through expansion of community-based patient navigation services.

For more information, contact
Elba Saavedra at elsaave@unm.edu.

Women wearing pink and running in a race

Quality of Life Workgroup

This workgroup is currently under development. More information will be forthcoming as it becomes available.

For more information, contact
Amy Gundelach at Amy@thegcap.org.

Rural Health Equity Workgroup

This workgroup aims to identify and address the cancer burden of rural and frontier communities in New Mexico through outreach and partnerships among providers and other healthcare stakeholders.

For more information, contact
Isela Garcia at iselag@nmsu.edu.