Northern B.C. gets prevention programs

Prince George will be at the centre of a pair of new cancer prevention programs focused in northern B.C.

The Canadian Cancer Society is funding a project worth close to $1 million based out of the UBCOkanagan campus in Kelowna that will look at how stopping smoking prior to surgery and improving men’s health can reduce the incidence of cancer in the region.

Smoking and obesity rates in northern B.C. are higher than the provincial average and the cancer society is looking to find new ways to lower those numbers.

Director of the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention at UBC-O, professor Joan Bottorff, will lead the joint studies in co-operation with the cancer society, Northern Health and the B.C. Cancer Agency.

The stop smoking before surgery program will be piloted in Prince George and Prince Rupert.

Its aim is to get people to stop tobacco use eight weeks before surgery in order to reduce hospital stays and improve the chances for recovery.

The men’s healthy eating and active living program will take place in Prince George and Dawson Creek and will try to reduce cancer rates among men by encouraging a healthier lifestyle.

“In Canada, the rate at which new cancer cases are diagnosed continues to rise, placing greater demands on health care systems,” Canadian Cancer Society regional director for B.C. and Yukon Margaret Jones-Bricker said in a news release.

“The best way to control cancer is to prevent it. By working together, we can combine resources to create a strong regional prevention initiative in northern B.C. Harmonizing cancer prevention services will have an impact on the region’s burden of cancer, and will also inform how other Canadian regions can deliver similar programs.”