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The State invests a portion of its tobacco settlement dollars in the cancer initiative. The first state appropriation from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement for the cancer initiative was made in the 2001 legislative session.
Funds for the initiative are appropriated by the General Assembly to relevant state agencies. The Coalition has contracts with all of the agencies to assist them in utilizing and leveraging their appropriation to maximize the cancer investment. The Coalition works closely with the Department of Community Health, the Division of Public Health of the Department of Human Resources, the University System of Georgia, and the Georgia Research Alliance. The Coalition's role is to ensure that agencies spend these appropriated dollars in a focused, non-duplicative manner.
While state appropriations represent the bedrock of the Coalition's funding in its formative years, the initiative is dedicated to developing a balanced portfolio of financial support. To date, the Coalition has also received significant amounts of federal funding, as well as private donations and in-kind gifts. As programs continue to develop, individual contributions, proceeds from events, corporate gifts, and foundation and government grants will be emphasized as essential to the Coalition's ability to leverage its state appropriation.
Although the Coalition has barely begun to develop its philanthropic program, multiple sources have volunteered support in response to the coalition's unique approach - building an effective partnership that integrates the strengths of public, private and academic systems. Already, the Georgia Cancer Coalition has attracted an accelerated amount of support from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In 2000, prior to the creation of the Georgia Cancer Coalition, the state received slightly more than $14 million in NCI awards. By 2002, the first full year of the Coalition's operation, that number had nearly doubled to $27.5 million, an increase of 91%. During that same period, funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) increased by 30%. Similarly, the Department of Defense awarded nearly $12.6 million in cancer-specific grant monies to Georgia in 2002 - compared with only $1.01 million in 2000. Funding from the American Cancer Society for research totals $7 million annually, while the Centers for Disease Control provides $7.5 million annually for cancer services and control. In addition the Avon Foundation gave $4.3 million to the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady.
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