About Us
Consortium History
In March 1998, the Maine Bureau of Health (now the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention – Maine CDC) was selected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) as a model planning state for comprehensive cancer control. Comprehensive cancer control is defined as a collaborative process through which a community and its partners pool resources to promote cancer prevention, improve cancer detection, increase access to health and social services, and reduce the burden of cancer.
Along with five other states, Maine’s comprehensive planning process was documented and evaluated by the USCDC and the Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation in order to develop a model for all states to use as they develop their own comprehensive cancer control programs.
In April 1999, MCDC staff organized the first comprehensive cancer control planning meetings in Bangor and Portland. Representatives from public and private organizations involved in all areas of cancer prevention, control and care were invited to become involved in this planning effort. The Maine Cancer Consortium (Consortium) was developed as a result of this planning process.
The Consortium began a systematic planning process to determine how best to achieve their mission. Work Groups were established to focus on specific areas of cancer, and in January 2001, the first Maine Cancer Plan was released. In January 2006, the second Maine Cancer Plan was released.
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