The state has awarded $9.3 million to the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center to provide free treatment for needy men with prostate cancer.

For the next three years, the award will support an IMPACT program to improve access, counseling and treatment for men diagnosed with the disease who are uninsured, or underinsured.

“With this program, the state of California made a statement that nobody should be left behind, said Dr. Mark Litwin, a professor of urology at the Jonsson cancer center and a founding director of the IMPACT program, in a statement. “Our goal from the beginning has always been to provide treatment to the underserved.”

The state Department of Health Care Services has helped more than 2,200 men enrolled in the program for the past 17 years, at a cost of $85 million.

Health business reporter Dana Bartholomew can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @_DanaBart.