partially support the continuation of the ARF, a system of county-level data files containing information on health manpower, health services, health care utilization, demographics, vital statistics, and other county-level measures. SEER is a premier source for cancer statistics in the United States and collects information on incidence, survival, and prevalence from specific geographic areas representing 26 percent of the US population and compiles reports of all of these plus cancer mortality for the entire US. Variables from the ARF will be merged onto files such as those derived from the SEER Program for internal use. These data are also made available to other researchers, including SEER Registries. NCI?s sole responsibility is the provision of the funds: HRSA will continue to manage the creation of the file. In exchange, NCI (SEER Program) will obtain free of additional charge one copy of each annual ARF file created and made available to the public during the time period covered by the Agreement. NCI will also enjoy complete and free access to all publicly available historical files and data elements that are currently part of the ARF system or that become part of the ARF system during the time period covered by the Agreement. Finally a representative from the SEER Program will be invited to be a member of ARF Users Group.
