WASHINGTON, D.C. -- October 14, 2008 -- Voters wanting to know where presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama stand on cancer related issues can now find out in a voter guide issued by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). The advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society will also issue guides for dozens of congressional races, as well as select gubernatorial and state races. The voter guides issued this month are the latest tools created by ACS CAN to help the public engage their elected officials and advocate for an increased focus on cancer. Guides are available online at https://www.fightcancer.org/.
“Every day elected officials make decisions that affect cancer patients and their families. These voter guides will help those citizens make an informed decision come Election Day on where the candidates stand in the fight against a disease that will kill 1500 people in America today,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of ACS CAN. “Just as importantly, advocates will be holding these elected officials accountable once they take office for their votes on cancer issues.”
The voter guides were compiled based on responses to questionnaires sent to presidential, congressional and select gubernatorial and other state office nominees. Questions posed cover cancer research and programs, access to care, prevention and early detection screenings, and tobacco control. ACS CAN also provided its positions.
“We already know what we need to do to fight cancer. Now more than ever government has a critical role to play as a partner in that fight,” said Laura J. Hilderley, RN, MS, volunteer chair of the ACS CAN board. “Lawmakers have the power to promote research and enact policies that help patients access the latest lifesaving screenings and treatments.”
The voter guides come at the conclusion of the ACS CAN 2008 Fight Back Express bus tour, a 6-month campaign designed to help make fighting cancer a higher national priority for elected officials at all levels of government. The goal of the bus campaign has been to educate the public, candidates and lawmakers about the importance of rededicating the nation to creating policies that will help defeat a disease that continues to affect far too many Americans. The bus has traveled the contiguous 48 states over the last six months, covering more than 40,000 miles.
This year alone, an estimated 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer, and another 565,000 will die from the disease.
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 https://www.fightcancer.org/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Nicole Bender
Phone: (202) 661-5773
Email: [email protected]
Steve Weiss
Phone: (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected]
