House Bill 612 will make changes to the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System by improving reporting and data collection requirements by the Ohio Department of Health.

“This bill was introduced today as a result of incidents in the Clyde area, where an extensive number of adolescent cancer cases have been diagnosed in the recent past,” Damschroder stated. “The changes involved in HB 612 will greatly enhance reporting requirements and assist with possible early detection on the causes of these cancer incidents.”

Among other provisions, HB 612 would require the Ohio Department of Health to make quarterly reports on the cancer incidence rates of children occurring in each census tract in Ohio and prepare a state map of the data. Additionally, the Department would make the incidence reports and maps available to the public on its website. HB 612 would require the Department to devise and implement an early diagnosis and cancer prevention outreach program and/or water and air quality monitoring program in the event that multiple types of adolescent and adult cancer rates are diagnosed in the same county or census tract area.