CIGNA, one of the nation’s largest providers of health care benefits and services and group life, accident and disability insurance, has been accredited with CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ certification, recognizing the company’s commitment to the health of their employees and family members and their efforts to meet an exceptionally high standard of cancer prevention, screening and care guidelines.
The CEO Cancer Gold Standard™, calls for companies to evaluate their benefits and culture and take extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of health and wellness to fight cancer in the workplace. To earn Gold Standard accreditation, a company must establish programs to reduce cancer risk by discouraging tobacco use and encouraging physical activity, healthy diet and nutrition; detect cancer at its earliest stages; and provide access to quality care, including the availability of clinical trials.
William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson, chairs the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, the nonprofit organization of cancer-fighting CEOs that created the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™. “CIGNA’s success and reputation has been built on more than 200 years of commitment towards healthy individuals and healthy communities,” said Weldon. “This CEO Cancer Gold Standard certification acknowledges CIGNA’s leadership in demonstrating that their commitment begins first and foremost with providing for the health and well-being of their employees and family members.”
The most recent President’s Cancer Panel report, “Maximizing our Nation’s Investment in Cancer: Three Crucial Actions for America’s Health”, identified the CEO Cancer Gold Standard as an initiative that emphasizes cancer screening, tobacco control, cancer education, lifestyle modification, and access to cancer treatment when needed.
CIGNA is the 30th organization to achieve Gold Standard accreditation since the program’s inception in 2006. Other organizations championing this workplace-based effort to eliminate cancer as a public health threat include: American Cancer Society, American Legacy Foundation, AstraZeneca, C-Change, Duke Medicine, Edelman, Enzon Pharmaceuticals, GHI, GlaxoSmithKline, Jenner & Block, Johnson & Johnson, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, MD Anderson Cancer Center, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Novartis, The Oncology Nursing Society, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, PhRMA, PPD, Quintiles Transnational, SAS Institute, The University of North Dakota, US Oncology, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Virtua Health and The Wistar Institute.
About CIGNA
CIGNA (NYSE:CI), a global health service company, is dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and security. CIGNA Corporation’s operating subsidiaries provide an integrated suite of medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance, to approximately 47 million people throughout the United States and around the world. To learn more about CIGNA, visit www. cigna.com
About the CEO Roundtable on Cancer
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to “do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families.” The CEOs responded with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard encouraging its widespread adoption in workplaces across the country. For more information on the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ and the accreditation process, please visit www.CancerGoldStandard.org.
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For more information: CEO Roundtable on Cancer John Dornan, Executive Director P: 919-531-0966 E: John.Dornan@CEORoundtableOnCancer.org
To read the President’s Cancer Panel Report, please go to: http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp.htm.