The Government has Survivorship on the Agenda
December 21, 2004
Both the House of Representatives and Senate are considering legislation that deals specifically with survivorship issues. House bill H.R.2986 and Senate bill S.1496 were introduced last year by Representative Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) respectively, and both should be reviewed during the current session. The bills amend the Public Health Services Act to include wording regarding survivorship and proposes the permanent establishment of the Office of Survivorship at the National Institute of Cancer (NCI) and additional programs and research through NCI. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would also be mandated to work on cancer survivorship initiatives.
With the growing number of childhood cancer survivors, it is important that their needs be included as part of national standard of medical care. Various groups such as The Institute of Medicine and the President’s Cancer Panel have introduced guidelines for childhood cancer survivors. It is important that these guidelines are recognized at the federal level to promote both a standard of care and encourage insurance coverage for follow-up.
As a survivor, you should encourage your legislators to support cancer survivorship initiatives. Information on the specifics of both bills can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/. For more information on advocating with elected officials see the advocacy section of this website and www.childrenscause.org/.
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December 21, 2004
Both the House of Representatives and Senate are considering legislation that deals specifically with survivorship issues. House bill H.R.2986 and Senate bill S.1496 were introduced last year by Representative Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) respectively, and both should be reviewed during the current session. The bills amend the Public Health Services Act to include wording regarding survivorship and proposes the permanent establishment of the Office of Survivorship at the National Institute of Cancer (NCI) and additional programs and research through NCI. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would also be mandated to work on cancer survivorship initiatives.
With the growing number of childhood cancer survivors, it is important that their needs be included as part of national standard of medical care. Various groups such as The Institute of Medicine and the President’s Cancer Panel have introduced guidelines for childhood cancer survivors. It is important that these guidelines are recognized at the federal level to promote both a standard of care and encourage insurance coverage for follow-up.
As a survivor, you should encourage your legislators to support cancer survivorship initiatives. Information on the specifics of both bills can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/. For more information on advocating with elected officials see the advocacy section of this website and www.childrenscause.org/.
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