On October 15th, a study conducted on behalf of the American Cancer Society was released and showed a decline in cancer death rates in the United States.  The annual report found that cancer death rates have decreased on average 2.1 percent a year from 2002-2004 and 1.1 percent since 1993.  The study also found that the incidence of breast and ovarian cancer has decreased in the last several years.  Dr. Neal J. Meropol, director of the gastrointestinal cancer program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia said, "I'm hopeful that these improvements will serve to at least partially satisfy the cynics who have questioned whether the investment in cancer treatment has borne fruit."

View Full Text of Study

from National Cancer Institute

The NCI Director’s Consumer Liaison Group (DCLG), NCI’s all-consumer advisory committee, will hold its 46th meeting beginning at 8:30 am on Wednesday, October 24 and Thursday, October 25, 2007 on the NIH campus in Building 31, Room 6C10.  If you cannot attend the meeting in person you can watch the webcast by going to http://videocast.nih.gov and viewing “Today’s Events” on the days of the meeting.  The meeting is open to the public and is an opportunity for the advocacy community to communicate its concerns to the NCI Director through the DCLG.

The NCI Director, Dr. John E. Niederhuber, will update the members on NCI budget and scientific activities.  NCI will give reports on legislative affairs, budget and planning, the status of the implementation of recommendations from the Translational Research Working Group, the Clinical Trials Advisory Committee and more.  There will be a time for public comment during the meeting. 

A draft agenda and more information is available on-line at http://dclg.cancer.gov/.

During this busy political season, Presidential Candidates hold events regularly that NPAF supporters may be interested in attending.  Below please find a list of upcoming events.

Event Calendar

On October 3rd, 2007, President Bush vetoed the reauthorization of the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP) calling the bill "deeply flawed."  The compromise legislation would have provided an additional $35 billion for SCHIP over the next five years helping insure millions of poor and low-income children.  The House has scheduled its override vote for October 18th at which time they will need approximately 14 additional Republican votes to override the President's veto.