1. Protecting vulnerable patient populations from climate hazards: the role of the nation's cancer centers.
- Author
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Espinel Z, Shultz JM, Aubry VP, Abraham OM, Fan Q, Crane TE, Sahar L, and Nogueira LM
- Subjects
- Humans, Vulnerable Populations, Delivery of Health Care, Disaster Planning, Disasters, Civil Defense, Neoplasms epidemiology, Neoplasms etiology, Neoplasms prevention & control
- Abstract
Individuals diagnosed with cancer are a vulnerable population during disasters. Emergency preparedness efforts are crucial for meeting the health and safety needs of patients, health-care professionals, health-care facilities, and communities before, during, and after a disaster. Recognizing the importance of advancing emergency preparedness expertise to cancer control efforts nationwide, especially in the era of climate change, we searched National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers' websites to examine emergency preparedness information sharing and evidence of research efforts focused on disaster preparedness. Of 71 centers, 56 (78.9%) presented some emergency preparedness information, and 36 (50.7%) presented information specific to individuals diagnosed with cancer. Only 17 (23.9%) centers provided emergency preparedness information for climate-driven disasters. Informed by these data, this commentary describes an opportunity for cancer centers to lead knowledge advancement on an important aspect of climate change adaptation: disaster preparedness., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Published
- 2023
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