Comment on Linn County finally gets data to look for cancer clusters

CEDAR RAPIDS — Linn County Public Health has finally gotten access to Iowa Cancer Registry data to study possible cancer clusters after more than two years of tussling with the University of Iowa. Public Health Director Pramod Dwivedi signed an amendment to a data-sharing agreement June 22 with the Iowa Department of Public Health to access cancer and hospital discharge data from the registry, he said.“We plan to do a geospatial analysis — meaning what areas within our county have higher incidence of overall cancer and specific type of cancer compared to other areas,” Dwivedi said.