A recent OVAC poll shows overwhelming support for expanding the cancer research budget. | Courtesy of Shutterstock
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Amanda Rupp | May 14, 2016

Poll finds overwhelming support for expanding cancer research budget

The One Voice Against Cancer Coalition (OVAC) recently conducted a poll to see how much support the organization would receive for increasing the funding spent on cancer research.

The results of the poll showed that approximately 89 percent of the participants think that cancer should not be a partisan issue because it is too important; another 81 percent stated that they support increasing federal finances dedicated to cancer research.

Using this research, volunteers with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) plan to go to Capitol Hill with approximately 100 cancer survivors, patients, physicians, caregivers and researchers.

“Cancer doesn’t discriminate by race, religion, geographic region or political party,” David Pugach, ACS CAN federal relations director and OVAC chair, said. “ACS CAN volunteers are uniting with cancer advocates from across the country to urge lawmakers to put politics aside and make cancer a national priority by guaranteeing robust and sustained funding that will help promote discovery necessary to eliminate death and suffering from this disease.”

The volunteers will act as representatives from 50 cancer organizations as they spread the good news from the poll. They will encourage lawmakers to prioritize cancer research.

“For decades, research supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute has played a key role in virtually every major cancer prevention, detection and treatment discovery,” Pugach said. “While recent funding increases for the NIH and NCI have begun to reverse course after years of flat or cut funding, overall funding for cancer research is still well below where it was a decade ago. Congress should seize this important opportunity to get cancer progress back on track.”

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