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M4.6 Radon

Given that there are an estimated 21,000 excess deaths from lung cancer associated with exposure to radon, how would you develop a national awareness campaign? Name some of your potential collaborators (stakeholders).

Developing a national awareness campaign would be challenging because I think people generally don't like to pay attention to environmental exposures and associated health risks unless they have been directly affected by the toxin in question. For a national awareness campaign regarding radon exposure, I would collaborate with the following organizations:

American Lung Association
Lung Cancer Foundation of America
Lung Cancer Alliance
American Cancer Society
American Public Health Association
American Medical Association
American Nurses Association
Home Depot, Lowes and other local hardware stores (a campaign for them to sell more radon testing kits)
First Alert (makers of radon testing kits to include them in a campaign to sell kits)

I think the message I would use would be to just get tested. I think having a simple, actionable message is important because it makes it easy for people to act. And once they are motivated to act, they will be motivated to learn more about the issue and perhaps even become an activist against radon exposure themselves. I would also ask people who have been negatively affected by radon exposure (either their own health or someone they know) to serve as the campaign's ambassadors and speak out about their lived experiences. 

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