 |
|
ACS Views on Legislative, Regulatory, and Other Issues
Cancer Issues—
staff contact: Geoff Werth, gwerth@facs.org
May 24, 2005
The Honorable Joe Baca
U.S. House of Representatives
328 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0542
Dear Representative Baca:
On behalf of the more than 66,000 Fellows of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), I am pleased to extend our support for H.R. 312, the "Breast Cancer Research Stamp Reauthorization Act". Since first being issued in July 1998, the Breast Cancer Research Stamp has raised over $50 million for federal cancer research and extending the authorization of this stamp is an important contribution to the fight against breast cancer.
The ACS has a longstanding commitment to the fight against cancer. In 1922, the ACS established a multi-disciplinary Commission on Cancer (CoC) to set standards for the delivery of quality cancer care in hospital settings. The Commission has worked successfully to evaluate provider performance and develop effective, educational interventions to improve cancer care at the national and local level.
The Breast Cancer Research Stamp supports the essential cancer research that has improved our understanding of the causes, prevention, detection, and treatment of breast cancer. Breast cancer mortality rates have declined by 2.3 percent per year from 1990 to 2001, but the fight has just begun. The American Cancer Society estimates that among U.S. women there will be over 211,000 new cases of breast cancer and 40,000 deaths from breast cancer in 2005.
Thank you for your leadership on this issue. We look forward to working with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Thomas R. Russell, MD, FACS
Executive Director
ACS Views on Legislative, Regulatory, and Other Issues
Advocacy and Health Policy
This page and all contents are Copyright © 2005
by the American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL 60611-3211
|
