Michelle Zimmerman
Senior Regional Media Advocacy Manager
Cancer Advocates Held Cancer Action Day at Capitol Today, Urging Lawmakers to Restore Funding to the State’s Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Programs
ACS CAN 2020 Cancer Action Day Brings Voices of Cancer Patients to Capitol
February 5, 2020
Charleston, W. Va. – Cancer patients, their families and other volunteers from around the state who have been touched by cancer came together at the State Capitol in Charleston to advocate for cancer-fighting legislation today, Wednesday, February 5, 2020. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) gives people impacted by cancer a powerful voice with lawmakers by holding an annual Cancer Action Day.
Topping the list of priorities this year was addressing tobacco use in West Virginia, including the youth e-cigarette epidemic, which is rising at an alarming rate. To prevent a lifetime addiction to tobacco, ACS CAN volunteer advocates met with lawmakers to urge them to restore funding to the state’s tobacco cessation and prevention programs.
“Properly funding these programs can reduce tobacco use rates, and ultimately combat tobacco-related illness and death,” said Juliana Frederick Curry, government relations director, ACS CAN. “Evidence-based, statewide tobacco control programs that are comprehensive, sustained and accountable have been shown to reduce tobacco use rates, as well as tobacco-related diseases and deaths.”
Currently in West Virginia, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, 35.7% of youth use e-cigarettes. Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death in West Virginia and smoking is responsible for 32.6% of all cancer-related deaths.
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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.
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