The Leone Village Council in American Samoa has been awarded a 50,000 US dollar grant for a cancer research project.
The money is from the National Cancer Institute and is based on a proposal submitted through the American Samoa Cancer Coalition Network.
It will go towards the Fofo County Cancer Research Project and will allow for a survey of Leone Village households.
In its grant proposal, the Village Council says the significance of this project is that cancer screening continues to be underutilized by Samoan women in American communities.
It says intervention programs of early detection under-serve women in American Samoa and barriers and motivating factors need to be identified in order to improve participation of Samoan women.
The project proposes the creation of baseline data on 600 women, on their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours about cancer, the benefits of early detection, and access to care.
