For most patients with tuberculosis, even those with severe social problems, completion of treatment can usually be achieved without regulatory intervention. Patients were detained on the basis of their history of tuberculosis, rather than on the basis of their social characteristics, and the less restrictive measure of mandatory directly observed therapy was often effective.

BACKGROUNDThe purpose of the current study was to provide health professionals, professional organizations, policy makers, and the general public with a practical blueprint for increasing the practice of screening for colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and adenomatous polyps over the next decade. The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) was founded in 1997 by the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide strategic leadership, advocacy, long‐range planning, and coordination of interventions targeted at reducing the disease burden of CRC through education, early detection, and prevention. The NCCRT and its three workgroups include CRC survivors; recognized experts in primary care, gastroenterology, radiology, colorectal surgery, nursing, public policy, epidemiology, and behavioral science; patient advocates; and representatives of health plans and insurers, government, and other organizations.METHODSThe NCCRT performed a literature review of published and unpublished data related to CRC screening guidelines, compliance, and barriers to adherence, as well as test effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness. Members of the three NCCRT workgroups developed summary reports regarding professional education, public education and awareness, and health policy. A drafting committee developed the final strategic plan from workgroup reports, which was reviewed by the entire NCCRT membership, amended, and subsequently approved in final form.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSAlthough the rationale for population‐wide CRC screening is well established, the majority of adults in the U.S. are not currently being screened for CRC. Thus, the nation foregoes an opportunity to reduce CRC‐related mortality by an estimated ≥ 50%. To increase CRC screening rates, the issues of patient and physician barriers to screening, lack of universal coverage, lack of incentives to motivate adherence, and expanded infrastructure must be addressed. Cancer 2002;95:1618–28. © 2002 American Cancer Society.DOI 10.1002/cncr.10890

"A leadership Conference--Prostate Cancer in the African-AMerican Community: an Agenda for Action" was held November 20 to 22, 1997, in Houston, Texas. The meeting--a collaborative effort of the American Cancer Society, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Cancer Institute--examined the unique challenge that prostate cancer poses to the African-American community. This article presents the National Blueprint for Action developed at this historic conference.

Patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis were civilly detained in a secured 29-bed unit in a long-term care facility in New York City between September 9, 1993, and September 9, 1994. All 46 detained patients were members of minority groups, more than 90% were substance abusers, nearly half had been previously incarcerated, 70% had been homeless at some point prior to detention, and 54% were HIV infected. The median time from TB diagnosis to detention was 19 months (range 4 to 77). The median length of stay for all study patients was 186 days (range 44 to 654). Seventeen patients (37%) were admitted with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Thirty-seven patients (80%) completed treatment with only 1 reported relapse (median follow-up of 30 months, range 1 to 38 months). Two (4%) patients were persistently culture negative and still on treatment 42 months after the start of the study period. Six patients with MDR-TB died of AIDS during detention and a seventh died of tuberculosis. Eleven (24%) of the 46 patients completed treatment as outpatients. All patients achieved initial culture conversion to negative. Five (29.4%) of 17 patients with MDR-TB became culture positive again after initial culture conversion to negative despite treatment under detention; all 5 became culture negative once again with intensified treatment, but 1 of these 5 patients failed treatment yet again and died of TB. A sixth patient relapsed soon after treatment completion and died of AIDS and TB. These six patients were more likely to have advanced disease (P <0.04) and to have failed to achieve negative sputum cultures after 6 weeks of detention (P <0.03) than the patients with rifampin-resistant isolates who remained culture negative throughout treatment. No patient was lost to follow-up.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract