It’s important to reflect on the present occupational health risks that agricultural workers face. Higher exposure to pesticides can be a direct cause to certain types of cancer in agricultural workers. But because Ag workers often do not want to “complain” about health issues, preventative measures are ignored.
 
Agricultural workers face extraordinary occupational health risks. According to Farmworker Justice; a member, along with NCFH, of the Farmworker Health Network, some of those occupational risks include but are not limited to:
Lack of adequate drinking water and toilet facilities, Musculoskeletal injuries from lengthy stooping, lifting, and cutting Farm machinery and equipment, including tractors, ladders and sharp tools Exposure to pesticides Exposure to extreme weather conditions  

Of these occupational health risks, there is one that directly correlates to agricultural workers developing a higher risk of cancer; exposure to pesticides.
 
Within the Agricultural Health Study researchers evaluated 20 pesticides to see whether or not they had a direct correlation to one’s risk of developing cancer; some of the analyses confirmed that certain pesticides do increase a worker’s risk of developing certain cancers.
 
Hispanic women have a 1 in 95 chance of developing cervical cancer within their lifetime. Because of certain cultural beliefs and taboos around women’s health, often times women do not seek the preventative care available to them prior to a positive diagnosis.
 
The National Center for Farmworker Health has created tools to assist Community Health Workers, staff of Migrant and Community Health Centers, and clinicians, to better educate Latino and Agricultural Worker families on preventative ways to detect cervical cancer.
 
Along with this short digital story on the Pap Test, NCFH offers the Cultivando la Salud for CHWs and M/CHCs; the two products work together to further health education on cervical cancer

For a comprehensive list of Migrant Health Centers please see out Migrant Health Center List and contact one for your preventative care needs. Resources on cervical cancer in Ag worker and Hispanic populations can be found in our digital library. 

The National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of agricultural worker families in the United States and Puerto Rico. Each year, NCFH commissions an artist to depict an image relevant to the life-style of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers to support its Migrant Health Scholarship Award program. Proceeds from the sale of fine art prints and posters are used to award scholarships to individuals with the potential to positively affect agricultural workers.

 The Migrant Health Scholarship Award program was established in 1984 and offers approximately six to seven $1000 scholarship to migrant health center staff and current or former agricultural workers to help them with their educational goals.

The National Farmworker Health Conference will be held in Portland, OR in May 2016 where the artwork will be unveiled. We invite you to consider this wonderful opportunity to showcase your work and be apart of a program which helps others to achieve success. If you are interested in being considered as the 2016 artist, please submit the following to favre@ncfh.org
by January 18, 2016.
• a direct link to your website or samples of your work
​• a sketch of your idea along with a description  

The artist chosen must complete the artwork no later than March 4, 2016.

A $1000 cash prize will be awarded to the selected artist upon completion of the artwork, as well as 5 fine art artist proofs and 10 posters of the image. In addition to the creation of the original piece of art, the artist agrees to attend the conference for the unveiling of the artwork, and to participate in poster and print signing.
 
We invite you to visit our website at www.ncfh.org to learn more about the Migrant Health Scholarship and view previous years’ artwork. Please consider being a part of this great program and have an opportunity to be recognized on a national basis.
 
If you have any questions, please contact Janie Favre at 512-312-5460 or at  favre@ncfh.org.