Prevention and changing demographics. The underserved and cancer.

This paper illustrates the complexity of the "cancer control in the underserved" problem, especially as it is affected currently, and will be in the future, by the multiple demographic changes in the United States. It does so by extensively quoting from four rather different articles by authors from a variety of backgrounds in health, management, and economics. Another issue is that although the articles quoted refer mainly to secondary and tertiary prevention, they do apply equally to primary prevention and health promotion. Furthermore, the twin issues of priority and ethnic/cultural differences need to be addressed insofar as they affect health risks, risk reduction efforts, early diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation/disability reduction. Finally, the point is made that social and structural change of this magnitude cannot occur in the health care system and society at large without the allocation of discrete private and public sector resources.