The American Cancer Society is kicking off a campaign to educate voters and candidates on the importance of access to care and funding for research.
“Funding hasn’t kept up with the rate of inflation, says Kathi Hansen, Wisconsin’s lead ambassador for ACS Cancer Action Network.” There could be better treatments, cures or preventative techniques that are in a lab somewhere that may never get out to the public, if funding is cut off or reduced.
Hansen is spearheading an event at the state capitol today to inform the electorate on these issues. The group will be inviting U.S. Senate candidates Tammy Baldwin and Tommy Thompson to speak to a cancer survivor and tour facilities researching the disease.
ACS says every day in Wisconsin, 87 people are diagnosed with cancer. This year alone, 32,000 state residents will be diagnosed and the disease will kill an estimated 11,000 Wisconsinites.