WASHINGTON, DC March 4, 2013 Cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones are calling on Congress to restore critical funding for cancer research and prevention programs now that sequestration has taken effect, leveling across-the-board cuts for domestic programs. The 5.1 percent cut in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), threatens promising ongoing cancer and other medical research and will prevent new research from getting off the ground. The cuts further create barriers to proven prevention programs run through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reducing the number of uninsured and underinsured individuals who can receive cervical, breast and colon cancer screenings that can detect cancer early or prevent it altogether in some cases.
Sequestration is a mindless cut with the potential to seriously impact progress in the detection and treatment of the deadliest cancers, said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., CEO of the American Cancer Action Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. More than 1.6 million people in America will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and we need lawmakers to work in a bipartisan effort to quickly restore funding for cancer research and prevention programs and make the fight against cancer a top national priority.
The $1.6 billion cut in funding for NIH means the agency will revert to FY 2008 spending levels and have even less purchasing power when accounting for the increased cost of medical research. Sequestration could lead to 1,380 fewer research grants being funded in FY 2013 and could lead to 20,500 fewer jobs. Every dollar invested in cancer research yields more than two dollars in economic activity for communities across the country; therefore these funding reductions are tantamount to a $3 billion decrease in economic activity nationally.
As the largest funder of cancer research, the federal government has enabled significant strides in the development of cancer screening tests and therapies that are responsible in part for the overall cancer death rate declining by 20 percent in the U.S. from its peak in 1991 through 2009 saving 400 lives a day that were previously being lost to cancer. Last month, ACS CAN released a report, Catalyst for Cures: How Federally Funded Cancer Research Saves Lives, highlighting progress in the fight against specific cancers, including breast cancer, melanoma and lung cancer. While recent discoveries have made some cancers easier to treat and survive, and led to treatments that attack only cancer cells, rather than attacking a patient 's healthy cells as well, there are many cancers where researchers are still searching for answers.æææ
You cannot turn research on and off like a light switch, said Edward E. Partridge, M.D., Director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center and former national volunteer president of the American Cancer Society.æ Disrupting clinical trials and cutting grant funding midstream could put an end to some promising research efforts and compromise progress against a disease that is killing 1,500 people in this country every day.
Sequestration will also undermine the nation 's ability to apply what is already working in cancer detection and prevention. Cuts to the CDC budget will mean 32,000 fewer breast and cervical cancer screenings will be available through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). Without the program, these women have no other option for affordable, lifesaving screenings.æ Access to affordable colon cancer screenings for both men and women would be hampered as well.
The cuts will further impact tobacco control efforts across the country, including Quitlines, access to cessation counseling and therapy and youth tobacco prevention programs. Community efforts to combat obesity, a known risk factor for cancer, are also on the line.
In addition, the sequester will hinder data collection through the National Program of Cancer Registries, limiting researchers ' ability to inform and evaluate prevention efforts, and address health disparities in detection and treatment of cancer. Comprehensive cancer control programs in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., seven tribes and tribal organizations, one territory, and six U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands depend on registry data to implement evidence-based interventions aimed at preventing cancer, detecting cancers early when they are more treatable, increasing access to treatment, and improving the quality of life of cancer survivors. Those efforts to focus on addressing the highest cancer burdens by jurisdiction will all be impacted by funding cuts.
ACS CAN volunteers continue to engage their Members of Congress in a variety of ways, urging lawmakers to quickly find a way to restore funding for cancer research. Volunteers visited district offices over the President 's Day recess to urge their lawmakers to protect funding for cancer research and prevention programs. More than 1,000 volunteers from every state across the country have shared their personal stories of why research is critical to their family and friends. Their stories can be heard on the ACS CAN website at www.fightcancer.org/voices. Each story communicates the urgent need for lawmakers not to cut funding for cancer research. ACS CAN is also running advertising in Capitol Hill publications, illustrating the potential to leave critical breakthroughs to languish in the labs if funding for important cancer research is not restored swiftly.
About the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate 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 www.fightcancer.org.
For More Information, Contact:
Alissa Crispino or Steve Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
202-661-5772 or 202-661-5711
[email protected] or [email protected]
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