County Executive John Leopold said he has an interesting perspective on why he supports the state smoking ban and free colonoscopies.
“Having been on the operating table for cancer, it makes you very sensitive to the cancer issue,” said Leopold, a survivor of melanoma.
Leopold, 64, said that five years ago, doctors discovered on his abdomen melanoma, a skin cancer caused by excessive exposure to the sun that can spread throughout the body with fatal consequences.
“If I hadn?t tested for it early, I could have died from it,” Leopold said. The cancer has not returned.
That experience has galvanized his governing principles. In the upcoming budget, Leopold authorized $200,000 for free colonoscopies for low-income residents. The money restores state funding provided from settlements with tobacco companies, county officials said.
Though the cancer mortality rate in Anne Arundel has dropped 9 percent in the last six years, the county has a higher rate than the state and national average, with 197 deaths per 100,000 people, according to 2003-05 data from the Maryland Vital Statistics Annual Report.
Lung cancer is the top killer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gets its information from the states.
Poor diet and high rates of smokers lead to the high figures, though the number of smokers has declined, said Katherine Farrell, the county?s deputy health director.
To reduce the cancer rate, Anne Arundel has targeted anti-smoking campaigns at schools and provided screenings for breast and cervical cancer for low-income families.
Leopold said he chose to combat colorectal cancer because if detected early, the disease can be treated. Colorectal cancer also is second to lung cancer in the county?s mortality rates, according to 2003 CDC data.
Farrell said 67 percent of county residents 50 years or older have taken the test, which exceeds the target goal.
“I?ve had a colonoscopy and thankfully came out clean,” Leopold said.
He has also taken a hard line against smoking in public places, supporting the statewide ban on smoking in restaurant and bars.
“Secondhand smoke kills,” Leopold said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Number of cancer deaths in Anne Arundel County
» 2003: 885
» 2004: 900
» 2005: 918
Source: Maryland Vital Statistics Annual Report, Maryland Vital Statistics Administration
