ONE VOICE AGAINST CANCER REPORT

I had the great honor of spending the last three days in Washington DC meeting with our Congressmen as a LiveSTRONG Delegate on behalf of One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC). OVAC is a broad coalition of cancer-related organizations representing millions of Americans working in support of federally funded programs that engage in the fight against cancer. This coalition allows all those in the cancer field to combine voices, present a unified front and lobby together with strength in numbers.

With nearly a hundred others representing the American Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Sarcoma Foundation and many more, we heard from cancer fighters in the National Institutes of Health(NIH), National Cancer Institute(NCI), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration(FDA), and Childhood Cancer Research and Awareness expert on behalf of the Carolyn Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act.

Keenly aware of the current budget dilemmas requiring cuts and prioritization, but also knowing that polling shows 77% of the public does not wish cuts to come in the area of cancer research and prevention, we asked each Senator and Representative to be knowledgeable about the budget requests for the above entities and the need those requests represent. However, our major message was that any decrease in the current funding would risk previous gains, research and possibly endanger lives.

One brief example: Did you know that FDA has a warehouse backlog of 7-10 years? In many instances not because the research isn't complete, but because there aren't the resources to process the information waiting for approval. I am haunted by the possibility that for many of the loved ones we've lost, the life-saving drug may be sitting on the shelf in a warehouse. To each Congressman I told Ty Wakefield's story as an example...and there are many more stories right here in our Valley.

For those who are interested, I am including below the summary of each issue, but more details on each, the list of coalition members and the actual budget numbers may all be found at www.ovaconline.org.

I would be more than happy to speak to any of you (or any organization) who want more detail about the requests or a report of our actual meetings.

And, of course, you are always encouraged use the OVAC information to add your voice and contact your Congressman (Senator Crapo, Senator Risch and Representative Labrador) in support of this cause we all hold so dear.

Thanks for your support - LiveSTRONG,
Marcia Banta