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U.S. CONGRESS PASSES HR 745 DECLARING NOVEMBER NATIONAL PANCREATIC CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. U.S.A. (September 28, 2006)— After thousands of phone calls, emails, letters and personal visits to Congressional representatives from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s (PanCAN) grassroots advocates, the U.S. Congress responded Monday by unanimously passing House Resolution 745, a bill introduced by Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA) to recognize November 2006 as National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Platts has helped focus the House on the plight of the pancreatic cancer community for the last five years by introducing similar resolutions designating November as National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

As in previous years, the resolution’s language was carefully crafted to support the goals and ideals of PanCAN, which requested the resolution to help educate Americans about pancreatic cancer and the critical need for research funding, early detection methods and improved treatment and prevention programs for this devastating disease.

“Our goal is to change the public’s perception of the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer as hopeless by raising public awareness of what this disease is, what challenges we face, and what can be done to speed up the search for a cure,” stated Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of PanCAN. ” We are very appreciative that Congress has passed this important resolution, and to Congressman Platts for his ongoing commitment to our cause.”

In his comments to the House, Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), Chair of the House Government Reform Committee, pointed out that pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. and that “this resolution sought to elevate awareness on the risks associated with pancreatic cancer as well as the need for research funding and greater treatment options.” Davis was followed by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who urged his colleagues to also “make sure that the National Institutes of Health has the resources necessary to continue to work toward finding a cure for pancreatic cancer, all cancers, and so many other devastating diseases that hurt and strike families across our country every year.”

The President’s FY2007 budget requested a $40 million cut in funding to the National Cancer Institute, a move which if approved would significantly inhibit progress in all cancer research. Last year, only $66 million was spent on pancreatic cancer research—roughly 1% of the NCI’s total cancer research budget of $4.825 billion. “We hope that the House will vigorously oppose these budget cuts in November,” concluded Fleshman. “We are encouraged by the broad show of support and understanding the U.S. House of Representatives has extended to the pancreatic cancer community by passing HR 745 and we hope that our message will be remembered when it’s time to vote on the budget. As constituents, it is important for us to let our elected officials know that their priorities must include increasing federal funding for cancer research. We cannot win the fight against cancer unless we fund the fight for a cure.”

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is a national 501(c)(3) patient advocacy organization which serves the pancreatic cancer community. PanCAN is headquartered at 2141 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 7000, El Segundo, California 90245, and can be reached toll-free at 877-272-6226 or on the web at PanCAN.

My husband, Allan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in November 2005. Even with the help of our wonderful health care professionals - he passed away after four short months. Allan had all the treatments currently available for patients with pancreatic cancer. It just wasn’t enough.

Mortality rates are very high from pancreatic cancer primarily because the cancer is diagnosed at such late stages when symptoms first become noticeable.

Cancer of the pancreas is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. This year approximately 32,000 Americans will die from cancer of the pancreas. The disease is not only common, it is also extremely difficult to treat. For these and other reasons, cancer of the pancreas has been called “the challenge of the twenty-first century.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 at 11:09 am and is filed under pancreatic cancer, illness, Allan, cancer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.