WASHINGTON, D.C. -- July 17, 2008 -- “The cancer community is applauding a proposal to add $1.2 billion for cancer research for this fiscal year, a move that if enacted would begin to restore necessary funding that for five years running has failed to keep up with the growing cost of medical research.
“Just weeks after the president signed into law $150 million in supplemental funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), longtime champions of cancer research funding, are building on their commitment to ensure that lifesaving medical research be a top priority. The introduction of a second supplemental funding bill late last night, which would include $4 billion for NIH and $1.2 billion for the National Cancer Institute, would help to further our progress in the fight against cancer.
“With 1 out of 2 men and 1 out of 3 women expected to get a diagnosis of cancer in their lifetime, constituents in every state and Congressional district in the country are counting on their legislators to put cancer at the top of the national priority list and make this funding proposal a reality.
“While research is critical to discover new and better screenings and treatments for some of the deadliest cancers, there are many proven preventive and early detection measures that if funded properly could save thousands of people who don't currently have access to critical screenings. We’re hopeful this commitment to better fund cancer will not only be realized in research, but will also be applied to prevention and early detection services.”
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy partner 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:
Alissa Havens
Phone: (202) 661-5772
Email: [email protected]
Steve Weiss
Phone: (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected]
