PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine health officials are receiving more than $2 million to try to improve the state’s efforts to prevent cancer.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King say the money will support the Maine Center for Disease Control’s cancer prevention and control programs. Cancer’s the leading cause of death in the state, and the senators say Maine has higher cancer death rates than most of the country.

The money’s from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion.

The Maine CDC’s programs are designed to conduct cancer surveillance, improve access to screening and improve health outcomes for people with cancer. The senators say the programs also provide evidence for policy and environmental approaches to cancer control, and evaluate those approaches.