As states continue to struggle with budget shortfalls, many state legislatures are not measuring up on legislative solutions that prevent and fight cancer, according to a new report released by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society.
The report, How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality, showed that only 2 states came close to meeting all 7 legislative priority benchmarks measured by ACS CAN – Vermont and Delaware met 5 of them.
“Effective public policy measures in the states that encourage prevention, guarantee access to affordable health care, curb tobacco use and focus on patients’ quality of life have been proven to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer, a disease that still kills 1500 people in this country every day,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of ACS CAN.
Specific policy actions that state legislatures can adopt in the fight against cancer are identified and ranked in the report. These include adequate breast and cervical cancer early detection program funding, colorectal screening coverage laws, comprehensive smoke-free laws, tobacco prevention program funding, and increased tobacco taxes. This year, 2 new measures are included on the 2012 report: tanning bed bans for minors and access to palliative care to treat pain and other symptoms of the disease.
According to the report, The District of Columbia and 7 states (Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington) reached benchmarks in 4 of the 7 areas. Seven other states (Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee) did not achieve the benchmark on any of the 7 issues, and another 17 states obtained high results on only 1 issue.
Guidance is also provided by How Do You Measure Up? for the effective management of tobacco cessation funding, emerging tobacco products, obesity, nutrition and physical activity, oral chemotherapy parity, and the implementation of certain terms of the Affordable Care Act that benefit cancer patients and their families.
“We know what needs to be done to save more lives from cancer, but we cannot be successful unless state and local policymakers take action to deter tobacco use and guarantee funding and access to programs and services that are proven to work,” said Chris Hansen, president of ACS CAN.
Source: ASC CAN.