All Louisianans deserve access to cancer screening and the ability to pursue the best care and treatment options. That’s why we’re bringing together the resources and stakeholders needed to tackle big changes for residents of our state.
Our Mission
Our mission is to be Louisiana’s united force to reduce cancer mortality by eliminating racial disparities and health inequities.
Our Vision
To work with healthcare and health plans to improve cancer outcomes in Louisiana by expanding residents’ access to cancer prevention, screening, and standard of care treatment.
Our History
Former Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Department of Health Secretary Rebekah Gee launched TACL in the spring of 2018. This first-of-its-kind initiative was funded through a $500,000 grant from United Health Foundation and supported by the Louisiana Department of Health and Louisiana Cancer Research Center.
The grant supported comprehensive research of Louisiana’s current cancer outcomes to identify the areas of greatest need and opportunity for improvement.
Later that year, TACL helped the state health department make seven coverage and payment improvements to Louisiana Medicaid, which better aligned Medicaid with best practices for breast and colorectal cancer treatment and prevention.
Over 200 coalition members continued to work together to create a truly statewide strategy for lowering Louisiana’s cancer death rates and reducing racial inequities in cancer care.
In 2019, Taking Aim at Cancer in Louisiana formed its own 501(c)(3) corporation. This transition allowed us to grow in new ways as a collaboration among various players, service providers, and stakeholders and helped protect our work from future leadership changes in the statehouse.
Before TACL, multiple small initiatives had failed to make a significant impact on cancer outcomes statewide. They simply lacked the scale and resources to do so. By uniting major players in healthcare around a single cause, we’re able to tackle the issue in a coordinated way, make a greater impact and save more lives throughout Louisiana.