Government ignoring number one threat: cancer

Ask anyone in Washington what the number one threat to America is and they will say terrorism.

But it is cancer that is going to be the number one killer in America in less then 15 years.

Lance Armstrong, and now members of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), are not willing to accept that 1,500 people die from cancer every day.

The federal government shouldn’t accept it either, which is one reason I joined 700 delegates from across the country last week at the LIVESTRONG Summit in Austin, Texas. We brainstormed solutions to the un-met needs of cancer patients and survivors, and rallied support for increased cancer research funding in Washington.

Like many of the other delegates in attendance at the event, I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor on July 30, 2004 and the cancerous cells from the tumor started to spread down to my spine.

I was in a fight for my life at the age of 20 and with the support of my family, friends, doctors and nurses, I was able to win that fight.

During my treatments I became inspired by Armstrong and his cause. Now, I have joined his fight against cancer.

These delegates were cancer survivors, cancer caregivers, nurses and doctors. Delegates left the Summit inspired and impassioned with their own personal action plan to help make a difference in their community.

Speakers such as Armstrong, John Kerry and Elizabeth Edwards, all of whom are cancer survivors, inspired the delegates.

One theme echoed throughout the Summit was that cancer survivorship starts on the day of your diagnosis.

From the moment of diagnosis the LAF provides the practical information and tools people with cancer need to live life on their own terms. The LAF’s mission is served through advocacy, public heath and research.

Armstrong is creating an army of people to make cancer into a national priority.

In the last two years, the government has cut cancer research funding, the first time ever cancer funding has been cut.

The Bush administration will spend more on the war in Iraq in seven months than it will have spent on cancer research, health or advocacy in the last 35 years. The LAF is creating more awareness every day and the goal of the Summit was to continue that awareness. The foundation is currently trying to create a voting block of cancer survivors to make this a national priority.

More than 10 million people in the U.S. are currently living with the disease, and 1.39 million more individuals will be diagnosed with cancer this year.

One in three women and one in two men will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. Three out of four families will help care for a family member with cancer. Our government is not doing enough to fight cancer.

At the Summit, Armstrong proposed that the government provide more for simple routine screenings and doctor check-ups so cancer can be caught earlier.

This could save 200,000 lives a year. Armstrong’s goal has been to get government spending up to $1 billion, but the government has cut the budget for cancer research in each of the past two years.

I was chosen to go to the Summit because I am a cancer survivor and applied to be a delegate.

I am extremely passionate in the fight against cancer. Many things can actually be done to reduce the deaths caused by cancer and I am trying to create awareness. This has become a huge part of my life now.

Cancer stays with me for the rest of my life – the scars, the side effects from radiation, the doctor appointments every year for the rest of my life and the emotions of cancer all stay with me.

It boggles my mind that our government is doing nothing and this fight is solely dependent on organizations like the LAF. I chose to go to the Summit because I want to make a difference in this fight against cancer.

Tommy Chalmers is a senior politics major in the College of Arts ‘ Sciences.