Recognition of National Minority Cancer Awareness
RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL MINORITY CANCER AWARENESS -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 22, 2004)
SPEECH OF
HON. TAMMY BALDWIN
OF WISCONSIN
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2004
Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the week of April 18-24, 2004 as National Minority Cancer Awareness Week. This national campaign, initiated by Congress in 1987, seeks to heighten awareness of the unequal cancer burden borne by racial and ethnic minority populations and other medically underserved communities.
Despite all the progress that has been made in the battle against cancer, a disproportionate burden of cancer continues to fall on specific populations. African Americans have the highest death rate for all cancers. Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian American women. And even when controlling for income level, African American, American Indian, Alaska native, Asian American, and Pacific Islander men have a lower 5-year survival rate than non-Hispanic white males.
In my state of Wisconsin in 2003, 25,800 new cancer cases were diagnosed and 10,800 people in my community died from cancer. Once these statistics are analyzed, I believe we will find that a disproportionately high burden of these cancer deaths will be borne by minority populations. The future health of Wisconsin-and of America as a whole-depends on our success in improving the health of minority and other medically underserved populations.
I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 918, the Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Prevention Act. This legislation would set up patient navigator systems, which would provide patients with a trained navigator "buddy" from their own community, who speaks their own language, and who will act as their advocate in navigating the health care system. This program would do wonders to increase awareness of programs and services in minority communities, and provide an opportunity to empower impacted communities in the fight against cancer.
By passing legislation like H.R. 918 and lending support to National Minority Cancer Awareness Week, we can reduce and ultimately eliminate the disparate burden of cancer and other diseases on minority and medically underserved communities. I urge my colleagues to support both of these important initiatives.