WASHINGTON, D.C. -- September 12, 2012 -- Tomorrow, more than 600 cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and their families from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district will unite to ask members of Congress to make the fight against cancer a top priority by funding cancer research and prevention programs. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is hosting its annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day to urge lawmakers to protect funding for cancer research and prevention programs and to co-sponsor legislation that supports patients' quality of life. With federal funding for cancer research, prevention and early detection programs and support for palliative care services that improve the quality of life of cancer patients, we will save more lives from cancer and give patients a better chance at defeating it, said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. It is critical that Congress commit to making these lifesaving programs a priority so we can ensure that progress continues in the fight against cancer. Cancer advocates will be urging lawmakers to ensure that the fight against cancer remains a top national priority by protecting funding for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, cancer prevention and early detection programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and evidence-based community prevention efforts made possible by the Prevention and Public Health Fund. Advocates also will be discussing the importance of legislation to improve patients' quality of life through advancement of the growing field of palliative care. Following meetings with legislators, cancer advocates will attend training sessions on communicating with elected officials, conducting grassroots activities in their communities and engaging the media. The three-day event will culminate Friday night with a Lights of Hope ceremony in front of the U.S. Capitol steps, with more than 6,000 lights spelling "HOPE." Each light will honor a cancer survivor or memorialize a loved one who lost his or her fight with the disease. Progress against cancer will be jeopardized if Congress does not maintain cancer research funding and protect federal investments in making tests and treatments more effective, said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. We are calling on lawmakers to make a commitment to defeat cancer -- a disease that still kills more than 570,000 people in America every year. ACS CAN advocates will also be joined by a group of Division I college basketball coaches at a Capitol Hill rally on Thursday, Sept. 13, at 10:00 a.m. at the Upper Senate Park. The coaches, who are members of Coaches vs. Cancer¬, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, are putting aside their on-court rivalries and teaming up to ask Congress to make funding cancer research and programs a national priority. We need Congress to put aside partisan differences and work together to defeat a disease that continues to kill 1,500 people a day, said Robert Kugler, volunteer chairman of ACS CAN's Board of Directors. Tonight, advocates will be on hand for the presentation of ACS CAN's National Distinguished Advocacy Award. This year's award recipients are Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D). The National Distinguished Advocacy Award is ACS CAN's most prestigious advocacy honor and is awarded for leadership in the fight against cancer. A reception honoring the recipients of these awards will be held this evening, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m., at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Federally funded medical research and cancer prevention programs have had a role in every major advance against this disease, resulting in 350 more lives saved from cancer per day than in 1991. Additionally, roughly half of all cancer deaths in the U.S. could be prevented if people had access to effective prevention programs, avoided tobacco, maintained a healthy weight through diet and exercise and got recommended cancer screenings Palliative care is a proven cost-effective way of improving the quality of patient care at any stage of diagnosis. Research shows that cancer patients come to expect pain and other symptoms as something they must endure. However, evidence based research has concluded that when patients have early access to palliative care services alongside curative treatment they have a better quality of life. ACS CAN is the non-profit, non-partisan advocacy affiliate organization of the American Cancer Society, which is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Lauren Walens or Steven Weiss American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Phone: (202) 661-5763 or (202) 661-5711 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] #cancerlobbyday #cancer #Congress #research #prevention #NCAA #CVCCapitolHill #NCI
