President Obama's fiscal year 2016 budget eliminates all funding for the Centers for Disease Control prostate cancer program. Congress has the power to protect the CDC Prostate Cancer program. We ask for your advocacy to protect this life saving program.
Please tell Congress to SAVE THE CDC PROSTATE CANCER PROGRAM
Click to send your message to Congress: Malecare CDC Advocacy Page
Our advocacy campaign is off to a good start. As of March 4, 2015, hundreds of letters have been received by the Senate and House Budget committee Chairpeople. The CDC Director and one of the Budget Committee Legislative Directors have contacted Malecare. And, at least two of our counterpart organizations, ZeroCancer and Men's Health Network, are joining us in protest.
We need to keep our momentum. We need EVERYONE to write. If Congress does not hear from our prostate cancer survivor community, then they will correctly see that there is no political price to pay for reducing research funding.
Representatives hear from very few prostate cancer survivors and family members so your letter will be surprisingly powerful.
Cut and paste the sample letter, below, into all four of the Senate leaders' online comments pages, the House committee online comment box and then one email to your local Congressperson and Senators. Add in a sentence or two about who you are: a survivor, caregiver, relative, etc.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairperson:
http://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-me
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairperson:
http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/contact
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health Chairperson:
http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form?p=contact-roy
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health Ranking Member:
http://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme
House Appropriations Committee:
https://appropriations.house.gov/forms/writeyourrep/
Use the Contact Your Congress link below to locate your local representatives and send them the letter as well:
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
We know that this can be tedious, but patient advocacy takes a bit of work. It's our lives, and it should take only 20-30 minutes to send your message.
Silence Gives Consent, so please make your voice heard.
SAMPLE LETTER
Save the CDC Prostate Cancer Program
Please ensure funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prostate cancer program.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in America. Almost 30,000 American men die from prostate cancer every year. And, African American men die from prostate cancer at a rate that is more than twice the rate for white men. Incredibly, President Obama's FY 2016 Budget request eliminates funding for prostate cancer activities at the CDC.
In each of the past two fiscal years, Congress approved approximately $13 million for the CDC to conduct prostate cancer research, public awareness and surveillance. With this modest amount, the CDC researched and developed live saving materials to improve informed decision making about prostate cancer screening and treatment.
Critically, the CDC supports research on underserved communities and prostate cancer. For example, in FY 2014, the CDC funded research on prostate cancer screening practices for African American men and funded another study on patterns of clinical response to the prostate specific antigen in American Indian and Alaska Native men. The science gained from both of these studies will help save the lives of countless American men.
The CDC prostate cancer program improves the health of all Americans by leveraging strong partnerships with state and local agencies. The link between the CDC and local healthcare providers supports economically efficient federal, state and community partnerships. The cancelation of prostate cancer activities will lead to the termination of state and local prostate cancer control programs, harming men throughout the United States.
According to Malecare Cancer Support, the President's FY2016 budget request will particularly imperil the lives of African American men. Prostate cancer treatment is most effective when coupled with early diagnosis. Elimination of the CDC prostate cancer program funding will reduce early health care provider contact and consultations. Defunding the CDC program will cause increased African American deaths from prostate cancer due to late stage diagnosis.
I am also concerned that silence on the elimination funding for the CDC prostate cancer program will lead to reduced funding for prostate cancer research in all federal departments and agencies.
Please restore the CDC's prostate cancer program's annual budget of $13 million. By doing so, you will help to save the lives of the 220,000 American men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, and notably, those men who may be diagnosed too late for beneficial treatment.
Signed,
Your name, address
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If you want, include your phone number and email for authenticity and possible reply from the Representative.
Please email any questions regarding this campaign to:
darryl@malecare.org
Darryl Mitteldorf, LCSW
Executive Director
Malecare - Men fighting cancer, together