American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Encyclopedia
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (or ACS CAN) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
sister organization to the American Cancer Society
. It was founded in December 2001 to directly advocate the goals of the American Cancer Society, which is subject to restrictions on advocacy activities because of its tax classification.
Access to Healthcare Like its sister organization, ACS CAN is devoting a significant portion of its resourceshttp://www.acscan.org/accesstocare to raising public awareness of shortcomings in the US healthcare system from the perspective of cancer patients.
Cancer Research Funding The US government is the largest funder of cancer research
via the National Institutes of Health
, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov, yet recent budgets have not provided for increases that make up for increases in medical inflation.
Tobacco Regulation ACS CAN supports efforts to grant the Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov regulatory control over tobacco
products.
National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) ACS CAN actively seeks additional funds for the NBCCEDP, which provides breast
and cervical cancer
screenings for low-income women throughout the United States
.
Judicial Advocacy Initiative (JAI) ACS CAN and ACS file "friend of the court" briefs in cases that may effect the cancer community. JAI
, an unprecedented achievement for a nonprofit health organization. Attendees were treated to live music, public speakers, and a host of onsite activities, as well as the erection of the American Cancer Society Wall of Hope, a temporary monument to cancer survivorship that covered 2 city blocks.
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
sister organization to the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
. It was founded in December 2001 to directly advocate the goals of the American Cancer Society, which is subject to restrictions on advocacy activities because of its tax classification.
Campaigns
ACS CAN's advocacy efforts are targeted at specific cancer-related issues.Access to Healthcare Like its sister organization, ACS CAN is devoting a significant portion of its resourceshttp://www.acscan.org/accesstocare to raising public awareness of shortcomings in the US healthcare system from the perspective of cancer patients.
Cancer Research Funding The US government is the largest funder of cancer research
Cancer research
Cancer research is basic research into cancer in order to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatments and cure....
via the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
http://www.cdc.gov, yet recent budgets have not provided for increases that make up for increases in medical inflation.
Tobacco Regulation ACS CAN supports efforts to grant the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
http://www.fda.gov regulatory control over tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
products.
National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) ACS CAN actively seeks additional funds for the NBCCEDP, which provides breast
Breast cancer screening
Breast cancer screening refers to the medical screening of asymptomatic, apparently healthy women for breast cancer in an attempt to achieve an earlier diagnosis. The assumption is that early detection will improve outcomes...
and cervical cancer
Cervical cancer
Cervical cancer is malignant neoplasm of the cervix uteri or cervical area. One of the most common symptoms is abnormal vaginal bleeding, but in some cases there may be no obvious symptoms until the cancer is in its advanced stages...
screenings for low-income women throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Judicial Advocacy Initiative (JAI) ACS CAN and ACS file "friend of the court" briefs in cases that may effect the cancer community. JAI
Events
Every four years ACS CAN http://www.acscan.org hosts a massive lobbying event in Washington, DC called Celebration on the Hill http://www.celebrationonthehill.org/. Events in 2002 and 2006 hosted 4,000 and 10,000 cancer patients, survivors and advocates, respectively. In 2006 ACS CAN successfully met with the office of every member of the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, an unprecedented achievement for a nonprofit health organization. Attendees were treated to live music, public speakers, and a host of onsite activities, as well as the erection of the American Cancer Society Wall of Hope, a temporary monument to cancer survivorship that covered 2 city blocks.