Nearly 100 cancer survivors, caregivers and their families from across the state will gather in Jefferson City next week to urge lawmakers to protect young people from skin cancer and prioritize funding for cancer prevention programs.
The visit is part of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s annual Day at the Capitol. Throughout the day, advocates will meet with their legislators and ask them to 1) keep young people under age 18 from using indoor tanning devices, 2) prioritize tobacco prevention funding to help Missourians quit smoking and 3) uphold funding for the state’s Show-Me Healthy Women program to support breast and cervical cancer screenings for uninsured and under-insured women.
Media are invited to meet volunteers at ACS CAN’s morning training session. Ally Healey – an advocate from St. Louis – is available to share her story about tanning as a teenager and later developing melanoma.
WHO: Ally Healey, an ACS CAN volunteer and melanoma survivor from St. Louis
100 cancer patients, survivors and ACS CAN volunteers
WHAT: ACS CAN Day at the Capitol - Morning Training Session
WHERE: Capitol Plaza Hotel
415 W. McCarty St., Jefferson City
WHEN: Wednesday, April 10
9 – 10 a.m.
WHY: An estimated 35,480 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Missouri this year, and more than 13,080 Missourians will lose their lives to it. Lawmakers play a critical role in passing public health policies that fight this disease.
About ACS CAN
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is making cancer a top priority for public officials and candidates at the federal, state and local levels. ACS CAN empowers advocates across the country to make their voices heard and influence evidence-based public policy change as well as legislative and regulatory solutions that will reduce the cancer burden. As the American Cancer Society’s nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN is critical to the fight for a world without cancer. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.