Foundation Promotes Lymphoma Education (NAPSA)—A new kind of “lamp” is shedding light on a common disease that many people— particularly non-English speakers—may not know enough about. That disease is lymphoma, the most common blood cancer and the third most common cancer in children. Lymphomaaffects nearly 500,000 in the U.S. In 2005, approximately 63,740 new cases of lymphoma will be diagnosed and 20,610 people will die from the disease. Lymphoma Awareness for Multicultural Populations, or LAMP, is a new educational initiative from the Lymphoma Research Foundation. The initiative includes a Web site (www.lymphomafacts.org) featuring information for patients, families and health care providers dealing with this disease. The site also offers access to information in Spanish and Chinese. “Regular, quality care for underserved minority communities is a challenge because the majority of available patient information is written for English speakers in this country,” said Errol M. Cook, President of the Lymphoma Research Foundation. “In order to make an impact in these communities, we need to reach out to them directly and makesure they have the informa- tion they need.” “Inadequate health communica- tion leads to a patient’s inability to understand information, ineffective Experts say creating educational materials in different languages may mean a better chance for an early diagnosis of lymphoma. patient-provider communication and ultimately, compromised care and unnecessary costs,” said Oliver W. Press, MD, Chair-Elect of the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board. “Many of these underserved individuals are not diagnosed until the later stages of the disease.” The Lymphoma Research Foundation is the nation’s largest voluntary health organization devoted exclusively to funding lymphomaresearch and providing patients and health care professionals with critical information on the disease. To date, it has funded more than $24 million in lymphomaresearch. To learn more, visit www.lymphomafacts.org or call 1-800-500-9976.
