Statement from Blair Horner, Vice President for Advocacy, American Cancer Society of NY & NJ, regarding additional funding in state budget for NJ CEED program.
“For many New Jerseyans without health insurance or with inadequate health insurance, the New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection (NJ CEED) program is an important option to obtain vital cancer screenings. In the budget recently enacted by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, NJ CEED was funded at $9.5 million, a $3.5 million increase. NJ CEED provides free breast, cervical, colon and prostate cancer screening.
To keep county NJ CEED programs operating consistently, the American Cancer Society advocated for additional dollars. In previous years, some local programs expended their funding prior to the end of the fiscal year, leaving some residents with nowhere to turn for free cancer screenings.
The American Cancer Society thanks the Senate and Assembly for allocating additional funds to the program and thanks Gov. Christie for recognizing the value of this program by signing the supplemental funds into law.”
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About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.
After months of delay and hard negotiations, Congress has finally passed a funding bill! The bill includes a small increase for cancer research and prevention programs.