WASHINGTON – May 5, 2010 – As the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) prepares to hold a hearing today on national medical research priorities, families affected by cancer are calling on their elected officials to sustain the current level of support for medical research so that progress in the fight against cancer will not be stalled.
National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins is expected to provide oral testimony that supports President Obama’s proposed budget, which represents an important step toward maintaining progress in the development of innovative treatments and new screening tools. However, the funding level proposed in the President’s budget does not keep pace with funding included in the economic stimulus bill – money that has spurred new research projects and trials and created jobs in communities across the country.
“There are nearly 11 million cancer survivors in this country today thanks to the past investment in medical research,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “But 1,500 people still die from cancer in America each day because we don’t have all of the answers, and in order to reach our goal of reducing death and suffering related to all cancers nationwide, we must commit to sustained federal funding that will promote scientific discovery.”
Each year, 1.4 million people in America are told they have cancer, and 560,000 people die from the disease. To ensure that new, innovative projects begun with the help of funding in last year’s economic stimulus bill are not short-circuited, it is critical for Congress to make funding for cancer research a top national priority.
“New screening tools and treatments won’t see the light of day if we halt our progress,” said Robert E. Youle, a cancer survivor and volunteer chair of ACS CAN’s Board of Directors. “We need to seize this opportunity to build on past scientific advances against cancer, and commit to making consistent funding a priority for a disease that affects far too many Americans.”
ACS CAN is calling on Congress to build on the President’s proposal to fund cancer research in a way that sustains funding provided last year in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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 Havens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
