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Public Issues/Government Relations

Cancer is a political, as well as a medical, social, psychological, and economic issue. Policy makers at all levels of government make decisions which impact the lives of more than 8 million Americans with a history of cancer, their families, and millions of potential cancer patients.

The Society's Public Issues program educates policy makers about cancer and how it affects the individuals and families they represent. The Society is organized to advocate for public policy initiatives which relate to and affect:

the welfare of the cancer patient and his/her family
risks to and protection of the potential cancer patient
cancer research

The Society supports increased federal funding and provides direction for the federal government's cancer research programs at the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense/Department of the Army Breast Cancer Research program, and other federal agencies. The Public Issues program supports the work of local cancer control efforts by influencing legislation, regulations, and public policies on tobacco control, access to health care, employment discrimination against cancer patients, environmental cancer issues, and other issues affecting survivors and their families. Among the public policy changes that the Society has advocated are:

Federal government regulation of tobacco products to protect children and youth
Increased excise taxes on tobacco products
Medical and cancer research as national spending priorities
Health care system reform
Parity in access to cancer prevention and control for socioeconomically disadvantaged Americans
Comprehensive school health education
Treatment options/informed consent regulations
National mammography quality standards
Access to clinical trials and off-label drugs

Istook Amendment

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