Topeka ? A grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will help Kansas develop an environmental public health tracking network.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment will receive $3 million over five years to join a multi-state network of information about the environment’s effects on health.

The CDC is developing the network to track environmental hazards and health problems across Kansas. The goal is to develop public health actions to prevent chronic illnesses, such as asthma and cancer.

CDC officials say chronic illness accounts for 70 percent of deaths nationwide, but the links between such diseases and the environment remain unclear.