WASHINGTON, DC July 8, 2013 äóî Volunteer advocates from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) will join cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, physicians, and researchers from 13 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 140 advocates from 35 states are uniting as part of the One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) lobby day.
Past investment in cancer research has given us the tools to detect some cancers early and in some cases to prevent it altogether, said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. But sustained investment in cancer research and prevention is imperative to help make progress for cancers where we still don 't have answers.
Now in its 14th year, the OVAC Lobby Day will take place July 8-9 with more than 140 scheduled meetings with Members of Congress and their staff.
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Advocates will be calling on Congress to end sequestration cuts to cancer research and prevention funding, and increase funding for the fight against cancer.
Sequestration on top of flat or cut funding from years past will severely limit our ability to leverage past investment and promote future advancement, Hansen said. To maintain our global preeminence in the research field and optimize our chances to eliminate death and suffering from a disease that still kills 1,500 Americans each day, we need our lawmakers to prioritize the fight to defeat cancer.
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 more than 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 400 more deaths avoided that would have occurred 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 of Clinical Oncology, Association of American Cancer Institutes, Cancer Support Community, Fight Colorectal Cancer, Intercultural Cancer Council Caucus, International Myeloma Foundation, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, LIVESTRONG, Men's Health Network, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, National Brain Tumor Society, National Coalition for Cancer Research (NCCR), Oncology Nursing Society, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and Prevent Cancer Foundation.
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 39 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.æ
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]
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