The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Your Chance of Dying from Cancer Depends on Your Income

Mar 17, 2008

Poorer people consistently receive later diagnoses on certain kinds of cancer. As a result they die at a much higher rate.

Researchers at the American Cancer Society released a report in February, based on a study of almost four million patients with cancer diagnoses between 1998 and 2004. They found far more black people and Hispanic people were diagnosed at Stages 3 and 4 of cancer than were white people. That reflects the fact of greater poverty in these populations. But poor white people face the same situation. When diagnosed at Stage 3, only half survive. When diagnosed at Stage 4 (the most advanced) only 8% survive.

And why don’t they get the screening? Because they have no health insurance or only Medicaid which doesn’t pay for regular screenings.

The U.S. health care system kills.