The U.S. Virgin Islands will receive a $240,412 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help set up a long-mandated cancer registry, according to Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett (D-VI).
“The Virgin Islands Central Cancer Registry Grant will make it possible for the registry to improve and continue to provide data for cancer research and epidemiological studies,” Plaskett said in a statement.
She said that in 1999, territorial law established the registry to collect and analyze data on incident cases diagnosed in the territory and the grant will make it possible for the registry to improve and continue to provide data for cancer research and epidemiological studies.
“The grant is significant to the residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands because it enables the Virgin Islands Department of Health Group to continue collecting data used to monitor and assess overall cancer incidence and trends in the territory, which in turn may be used by public health professionals for program development and evaluation,” Plaskett said.