Editorial
SCOTT C. RATZAN
This issue of the Journal of Health Communication:International
Perspectives provides a timely scholarly appraisal of the latest activities
in cancer communication, with data from the first Health Information
National Trends Survey (HINTS) conducted in 2003.
The HINTS survey provides a unique opportunity to explore
the characteristics of information seekers and nonseekers and the content
of information being sought by the public in a nationally representative
sample.This effort as part of the cancer communication efforts from
the U.S.National Cancer Institute provides an understanding that can
help inform decision making with generalizable and policy-relevant information
about the American public ’s information needs. The guest editors,
Bradford W.Hesse, Gary Kreps, Richard P.Moser, and Lila J.Finney Rutten,
are among the leaders in the field.This peer-reviewed supplement to
the journal (sponsored by the U.S.National Cancer Institute) offers
initial analysis based upon the HINTS data, and each article highlights
specific ideas to address cancer.
Since the first declaration of the ‘‘war on
cancer’’ in the 1970s, the National Cancer Institute’s
Cancer Information Service began in 1975 to provide a national information
and education network that serves the nation by providing the latest
scientific cancer information to the American public.In the twenty-first
century, with the increased reach and richness of data via the Internet
and the concomitant and increased evidence-based preventive and treatment
options for cancer, opportunities for communication interventions continue
to be an important part of the arsenal to combat cancer.
At the beginning of this century more than 7 million deaths
are attributable to cancer worldwide. Clearly, this is not a challenge
that can be addressed by government or any single sector. Data from
more than 6,000 Americans identifies many disparities, as well as approaches,
for public health and other interventions for better cancer control
and prevention.
We would all agree that the application of existing knowledge
has the potential to make an even greater contribution to the prevention
and control of cancer epidemics. Challenges of the implementation of
effective policies, however, need to be more widely recognized and overcome.
This issue of the journal and the underlying evidence
should assist all of us as stakeholders in multiple sectors — whether
in cancer specifically or health in general — to continue to approach
activities with a firm evidence base with theoretical and ethical underpinnings
to advance public health. Clearly, ideal communication that leads to
informed citizens who participate in decisions affecting their quality
of life and health is the challenge that those in the field of health
communication confront. My hope is that readers of this journal can
apply such ideas to make a difference for those individuals and their
families who already have or will be affected by cancer.
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Scott C. Ratzan MD, MPA, MA is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of
Health Communication: International Perspectives. He also is Vice
President, Government Affairs, Europe for Johnson & Johnson with
academic appointments at George Washington University School of Public
Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, Yale University School
of Medicine, The College of Europe, and University of Cambridge.
