Advocacy Is Making a Difference
The childhood cancer community is filled with passionate, dedicated advocates rallying together to make a difference for kids with cancer and childhood cancer survivors. Thanks to the tremendous advocacy of the childhood cancer community, Congress, the Administration, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are taking notice.
Over the last five years, childhood cancer advocates have successfully lobbied for meaningful policies and changes. Back in 2018, Congress unanimously passed the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act, the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation in history.
And the community’s advocacy didn’t stop there. Each year since the STAR Act was signed into law, Congress fully funded the programs STAR created, providing $30 million each year in new resources for childhood cancer. Now Congress is poised to extend the STAR Act further. Just last month, childhood cancer champions introduced H.R. 7630/S. 4120, the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act to allow the programs from the STAR Act to continue for five more years.
On the heels of the success of the Childhood Cancer STAR Act, the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) was created in 2019 with the goal of funding $50 million in new childhood cancer research funding each year for ten years. As with the STAR Act, the childhood cancer community has successfully advocated for full funding for CCDI each year. That means Congress has provided $270 million in new resources for childhood cancer since the STAR Act and CCDI were created.
These accomplishments in advocacy are also changing the research landscape at NCI. For many years, the childhood cancer community has rallied around a particularly startling statistic: Less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) budget funds childhood cancer research. This number so strikingly sums up the frustration about the lack of investment in treatments for kids with cancer and the slow pace of research. The 4% statistic has been a rallying cry for the childhood cancer community to demand better for kids with cancer – and after years of advocacy for more federal research funding, that 4% statistic has indeed changed. Thanks to the tremendous advocacy of St. Baldrick’s advocates and the childhood cancer community, NCI has more than doubled its investment in childhood cancer research in recent years.
The groundswell of advocacy and the investments foundations like St. Baldrick’s makes in early-career researchers and groundbreaking research have paved the way for more funding for childhood cancer research at NCI. In federal fiscal year 2020, NCI spent more than $500 million on childhood cancer for the first time, representing nearly 8% of its total budget that year.
But the work doesn’t stop here. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation will continue to keep up the pressure for more funding to develop new, safer therapies for kids with cancer. Join us today by urging your members of Congress to cosponsor the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act, which will allow the programs – and funding – from the STAR Act to continue for five more years.
Click the link below, or text STAR4KIDS to 52886 to take action today.
Ask Your Lawmakers to Cosponsor the STAR Reauthorization Act Today!
Read more on the St. Baldrick’s blog:
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Originally posted January 20, 2021
I voted for the first time in November, but this is not my first-time letting Congress know how I feel. In 2018 I lobbied on Capitol Hill with a group of childhood cancer warriors, siblings, and advocates. I shared my story with three members of Congress and pushed for legislation to help kids with cancer. Having gone through treatment for more than three years at this point, I was especially determined to cast my ballot in this year’s presidential election. As a new voter, I am also looking forward to being part of the St. Baldrick’s Speak Up for Kids’ Cancer Network so I can raise my voice for kids with cancer and childhood cancer survivors in the year ahead.
A Life-Changing Diagnosis Inspired My Passion for Advocacy
Shamari is a 15-year old survivor, serving as a 2020 St. Baldrick’s Ambassador. She’s also a strong advocate for childhood cancer research funding and will be part of the Virtual Day of Action on September 9. Please join the Speak Up for Kids’ Cancer advocacy action network to join her!
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Speak Up for Kids’ Cancer: January 2020
We hope you are having a great start to the new year! Read on for legislative updates, upcoming meetings and events, and ways to get more involved as we hit the ground running in 2020.
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