The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) World Trade Center Health Program provides health care, medical monitoring and treatment to thousands of people directly affected by the 9/11 attacks.
As of June 30, this year, the CDC says over 5,400 people have been enrolled in the program, all of them suffering some form of cancer directly related to the 9/11 attacks. According to the CDC’s statistics, that is three times the number of people diagnosed with cancer since 2014 when 1,822 had signed up in the program.
CNN News points out that the number of people with cancers related to the 9/11 attacks is probably even higher than the CDC is reporting because many people have chosen to not enrolled in the federal health program.
Christy Spring, the public affairs specialist for the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, says, “We continue to do outreach efforts to see who is eligible and out there.”
Between 2013 and 2016, the number of people enrolling in the CDC’s program has increased an average of 1,500 per year. Among those in the program, 4,692 are first responders, emergency responders, recovery and cleanup workers, and volunteers who helped in the aftermath of the attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The remaining 749 people are survivors who lived, worked or went to school near the attack sites. Of the 5,441 people with a cancer diagnosis, almost half are between the ages of 55 and 64. A total of 6,378 separate cancers were diagnosed, meaning that a number of people have one or more types of cancer.
According to the Sun, it is now believed that more than 50 different types of cancer could be related to the toxic smoke and dust from the attacks.
The World Trade Center Health program actually has over 75,000 people enrolled in its health care program. In addition to those with cancer linked to the 9/11 attacks, there are over 12,000 people with mental health issues related to the attacks, and over 32,000 who have been diagnosed with respiratory-digestive issues, such as asthma, chronic cough, gastroesophageal reflux disorder or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), connected to the attacks.
It is believed that the smoke and extreme amount of dust and debris released into the air after the attacks on the World Trade Center were carrying carcinogens and toxic pollutants. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center oncologist, Dr. Larry Norton, has said publicly that there was “every reason to expect” that the debris released in the attack could have been carcinogenic.
