Cancer CANdor Blog

ACS CAN is excited to commemorate the day by Š—“lightingŠ— our Twitter account and engaging our social networks in a conversation about how they can join the fight against cancer. What will you do to mark World Cancer Day?

As a father, I know how attractive tanning beds can seem to youth who want tan skin all year round. My wife strongly discouraged my daughter while she was growing up from using tanning beds because she was concerned about her risk of getting skin cancer. ThatŠ—'s why I was fully supportive and very excited about a historic new law California enacted this month that bans the use of tanning beds for those under 18.

I was excited by the news today that the USDA released new nutritional standards for school meals that have the potential to significantly improve the quality of the food our children are served at school.

Cancer patients and their loved ones from across the nation will gather to watch the address in a live online chat tonight, sending a message to the White House and Congress that funding for medical research and proven prevention programs must be a national priority.

We are already well into January, but I couldnŠ—'t let the month pass by without acknowledging a very important event -- National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. This year, an estimated 12,000 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed and 4,200 women will die from the disease in this country.

As we observe Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, we should consider his inspiring statement when he said that "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are we doing for others?'" Dr. King's work impacted millions of Americans.

After nearly 40 years of volunteer work for the American Cancer Society, I came on board as the ACS CAN Board Chair in November of last year. IŠ—'m now directly involved in advocacy more than IŠ—'ve ever been before, and I wanted to share with you some highlights of what weŠ—'re looking forward to in 2012.

Tobacco has no place in athletics, and certainly not at any of the nation's premiere sporting events that are very popular and widely televised. That's why I'm incredibly grateful to advocates from a coalition of 10 public health groups, including ACS CAN, who were the driving force behind the Orange Bowl Committee's and National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) recent decision to cancel Camacho Cigars' sponsorship of the Orange Bowl, which will be played tonight.

Today, the Senate honored that historic moment by introducing a resolution commemorating the anniversary. The resolution, co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Bob Casey (D-PA), celebrates the fact that people with cancer stand a far better chance of surviving the disease today than they did 40 years ago.

Today, when consumers pick a health coverage plan they are given a long document filled with complicated jargon that is virtually impossible for them to understand. An important provision in the Affordable Care Act, known as the Summary of Benefits and Coverage provision, was written to change that.