We’re proud to join the cancer community this September in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and will continue to focus our advocacy efforts year-round to improve the diagnosis, treatment and quality of life for childhood cancer patients and survivors.
Improving quality of life for patients and their families is a top priority for ACS CAN’s advocacy agenda, and advancing policies that expand access to palliative care is an essential component of our work to support cancer patients around the country.
Caregivers serve as critical sources of strength throughout someone’s cancer journey and are essential advocates in our mission to end death and suffering from cancer.
Throughout the year, ACS CAN and its volunteers work to impact the cancer burden by making sure lawmakers are aware of the issues that matter to them at all levels of government. September marks one of the most powerful and exciting times of the year as we gather hundreds of our advocates in the nation’s capital as part of our annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day.
Throughout the country, in every state, territory and Washington D.C., ACS CAN staff and volunteers have hit the ground running in 2017, working with local lawmakers to pass and implement public health policies proven to have the highest impact in saving lives from cancer.
ACS CAN's Indiana Day at the Capitol event was one of nearly 50 similar events scheduled to take place in almost every state and the District of Columbia between January and May this year. During 2016 state sessions ACS CAN will be working to convince lawmakers to pass comprehensive smoke-free laws, increase tobacco taxes, improving the quality of life for cancer patients, prohibit the use of tanning devices for minors and guarantee access to health care and lifesaving cancer screenings.
Large hospitals tend to be the major providers of palliative care services, but just how many hospitals are meeting this need? That's what the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) and the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC) set out to discover in their 2015 State-by-State Report Card on Access to Palliative Care in Our Nation's Hospitals.
Today is the start of ACS CAN's signature annual event: our Leadership Summit and Lobby Day. We'll be welcoming more than 750 cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district to Washington, D.C. for three days of training, presentations, media opportunities and, of course, meetings with lawmakers.
Dr. Laura Mavity was one of the incredible ACS CAN volunteers who joined us. Dr. Mavity is a palliative medicine physician practicing in Bend, Ore. with St. Charles Health System and is the clinical director of its palliative care program.
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.