Three years ago, ACS CAN launched the One Degree campaign, calling on Congress to increase federal funding for medical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $6 billion, including $1 billion for cancer-specific research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). It was a lofty goal – but an important one to reverse too many years of flat or reduced funding.
According to a new edition of the ACS CAN report How Do You Measure Up? released today, most state legislatures are missing opportunities to enact laws and policies that could not only save lives, but also generate new revenue and long-term health care savings.
At our One Degree launch event on March 17, we had an impressive lineup cancer survivors, passionate volunteers, celebrity star power and supportive lawmakers to make the case for more federal funding for cancer research.
I know I am not alone in being touched by cancer in fact, this is a universal experience in America. But I was heartened to participate in the One Degree campaign launch in Washington, DC last week, to help raise awareness about the way cancer touches all of us and the importance of sustained federal funding for cancer research.
Tuesday's event to launch the One Degree Project on Capitol Hill was such a success that I'm still in awe today. We had a room full of celebrities, lawmakers, partners from the cancer community and passionate advocates from every state all calling on Congress to increase cancer research funding.
There are few things in life that we all share in common, but we are all just one degree from cancer. Whether it's a parent, grandparent, other relative, friend, co-worker or even you, we all know someone who has faced this disease, and thus we all know just how important cancer research is to the quality of life and survival of our loved ones.
Unfortunately, for most of you the answer to the question above is not well. According to a new edition of the ACS CAN report How Do You Measure Up? released today, many state legislatures are missing opportunities to enact laws and policies that could not only generate new revenue and long-term health savings, but also save lives.
A new edition of the ACS CAN report How Do You Measure Up? shows that the majority of states are not measuring up on legislative solutions to prevent and fight cancer. The report ranks where states stand on these issues that play a critical role in reducing cancer incidence and death. It measures seven specific issues.