WASHINGTON, DC -- July 9, 2012 äóî Volunteer advocates from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) will join cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, physicians, and researchers from 14 other organizations in Washington, DC, this week to urge lawmakers to support funding for critical cancer research and prevention programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal agencies.æ A total of nearly 150 advocates from 45 states are uniting as part of the One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) lobby day. There are more than 13 million cancer survivors in America today, thanks to past investment in research. But 1,500 people in America still die every day from this disease, said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. We are urging Congress to make the fight to defeat cancer a national priority and seize the opportunity to capitalize on past federal investments in research that have resulted in the dramatic progress of the past four decades. Now in its 13th year, the OVAC Lobby Day will take place July 9-10 with nearly 160 scheduled meetings with Members of Congress and their staff. Advocates will be calling on Congress to: äó¢ Increase funding for cancer research and prevention programs at the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. äó¢ Fully support programs supporting cancer patients, including drug development at the Food and Drug Administration, along with the Health Resources and Services Administration Patient Navigator Program, and Title VIII Nursing Programs.æ These programs help cancer patients get well faster, by bringing new cancer drugs to market and training the cancer care workforce of tomorrow. äó¢ Become active members in the House Cancer Caucus and Senate Cancer Coalition. Past federal investments have put the scientific community on the verge of making groundbreaking new discoveries that could accelerate our progress and bring us closer to ending death and suffering from cancer, Hansen said. If federal cancer research funding is not sustained, the promise of recent discoveries could be left to languish in labs and may never become reality for people with cancer and their families. According to the American Cancer Society, it is estimated that this year more than 1.6 million people in America will be diagnosed with cancer and nearly 580,000 people will die from the disease this year. Federal funding for medical research and cancer prevention programs has had a role in every major advance against this disease, resulting in 350 more lives saved from the disease per day than in 1991. ACS CAN joins the following health care groups participating in this year's lobby day: American Academy of Dermatology Association, American Association for Cancer Research, American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, American Society for Radiation Oncology, Fight Colorectal Cancer, International Myeloma Foundation, LIVESTRONG, Men's Health Network, National Brain Tumor Society, National Coalition for Cancer Research (NCCR), Oncology Nursing Society, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network -- PanCAN, Preventing Colorectal Cancer, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance. ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org. One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC), a coalition of 36 national and community-based organizations, collectively represents millions of Americans since it was founded in 2000. OVAC represents researchers, physicians, patients and families and many others -- people working together to make funding for cancer research and prevention programs a national priority. For more information visit: www.ovaconline.org. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Alissa Crispino or Steven Weiss American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Phone: 202-661-5772 or 202-661-5711 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] #cancer #research #acscan
