Posted on January 30, 2017
With asbestos in line for priority risk evaluation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we’re closer than ever to a federal ban on asbestos — a linchpin in our goal of preventing asbestos-caused cancer. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is proud to join people from across the country in recognizing February as National Cancer Prevention Month. This message goes global on February 4, as well, for World Cancer Day.
While promising research continues, prevention remains the only cure for asbestos-caused diseases. Despite being armed with over a century of scientific data, asbestos remains legal and lethal in the U.S. and imports continue. Each year, up to 15,000 American die from preventable diseases.
As ADAO says, “Hear Asbestos. Think Prevention.”
The facts about cancer are irrefutable:
- The American Cancer Society estimates 1,688,780 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2017 alone, while 600,920 people will die from cancer in the same year.
- The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) estimates that almost one-third of the most common cancers in the U.S. could be prevented if Americans moved more, weighed less and ate more healthfully. That’s approximately 340,000 cases every year that never have to happen. Add in not smoking and avoiding sun damage and that figure climbs even higher—nearly half of U.S. cancers could be prevented by changing our everyday habits.
- The World Cancer Report 2014 highlighted some key aspects in the global fight against cancer – several of which have a direct impact in supporting a global asbestos ban. The report states that in 2012, the most common and most fatal cancer in the world was lung cancer (1.8 million causes diagnosed with 1.6 million deaths annually). Lung cancer is often a cancer caused by airborne carcinogens including smoke, pollution, and other harmful chemicals such as asbestos.
During President Obama’s final State of the Union address, he named Vice President Biden the new leader for the multi-billion-dollar new initiative, The Cancer Moonshot, which will work to end “cancer as we know it today.” Biden called for more open sharing of data as well as harmonizing existing efforts by pulling together the right players in order to build on the work already completed by many others, including the International Cancer Genome Consortium.
I am honored to join the Congressional National Cancer Prevention Caucus and present at Less Cancer’s National Cancer Prevention Day this month. I’m also traveling to several law schools, medical schools, and undergraduate universities to speak with students about asbestos, cancer prevention and public health advocacy. This educational tour affords me the opportunity to bring ADAO’s message of awareness and prevention to hundreds of people in just 5 days, and allows me to connect with young people that could become the future of our movement.
National Cancer Prevention month is a great opportunity to join the online conversation and remember to use the hashtags #WeCanICan and #WorldCancerDay.
It time to shoot for the moon, as we know that together, we can end asbestos-caused cancers.
In unity,
Linda