Bridging the Digital Divide

The National Cancer Institute recently allocated about $1 million to its public information outlet, the Cancer Information Service, to increase awareness of and improve access to Internet-based cancer information in minority communities. Four of 14 regional CIS centers will make use of the funds: CIS of New York (based at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), CIS of the North Central Region (University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center), CIS of the Mid-West Region (Karmanos Cancer Center), CIS of the New England Region (Yale Cancer Center), and CIS of the Mid-South Region (Markey Cancer Center and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center).

The CIS of New York will implement a project called "Bridging the Digital Divide Project: Your Access to Cancer Information." The digital divide, between those who have computer access and those who do not, is considered a growing health care problem. According to NCI, about 20 percent of the nation's population,...