Obama and Ovarian Cancer Research

Whether you voted for him or not this is a hopeful article!

Having lost his mother to ovarian cancer, President-Elect Obama begins his term with a promise to reform healthcare and the War on Cancer.

November 5, 2008 (WASHINGTON, DC): The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA) congratulates President-Elect Obama and looks forward to working with his administration in the fight against ovarian cancer. Mr. Obama has been a supporter of OCNA, endorsing the organization one year ago with the letter attached to this release.

President-Elect Obama's personal experience with the toll of cancer – particularly ovarian cancer – has resulted in his support of various legislative objectives championed by OCNA. "Federal funding is critical in order to conquer ovarian cancer," says Karen Orloff Kaplan, Chief Executive Officer of OCNA. "That is why we appreciate the early support of Senator Obama for the passage of Johanna's Law: The Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act, as well as the Ovarian Cancer Research Program, one of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs run by the Department of Defense."

Increasing research, education, and awareness about ovarian cancer are essential because diagnosing the disease is difficult. The number of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in its early stages is so small that the survival rates continue to be low. In more than 30 years since the War on Cancer was declared, ovarian cancer mortality rates have not significantly improved. Approximately 22,000 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008 and about 15,000 will die from the disease.

The statistics on ovarian cancer are distressing and OCNA is pleased to see that the Obama-Biden plan on Strengthening Women's Health provides a list of results-driven solutions that address women's cancers and offers hope of more rapid movement toward conquering this disease including:

* Double federal funding for cancer research within 5 years
* Expanding access to lifesaving clinical trails
* Creating a new cancer survivorship initiative at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
* Ending insurance company discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions
* Continuing their long standing support on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, a measure recently signed into law that will prevent insurance companies from using information from genetic tests to restrict or deny coverage to individuals at risk from cancer and other diseases. This measure provides critical protection against losing health insurance or a job because of an elevated risk for some breast and ovarian cancers and as well as other disease that have probable genetic ties.


See Barack Obama's letter endorsing OCNA - http://www.ovariancancer.org/_data/n_0001/resources/live/obamaletter.pdf


For more information about the Obama-Biden Strengthening Women's Health Plan, click here - http://obama.3cdn.net/f8b0e3f59d78812537_0dj9mvf96.pdf

For more information about the Obama-Biden Health Care Plan, click here -
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/

For more information about the Obama-Biden overall Cancer Plan, click here -
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/healthcare/Fact_Sheet_Cancer_FINAL.pd f


The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA) mission is to conquer ovarian cancer to save women's lives. Since its inception in 1997, ONCA has been the face and voice of a national network of ovarian cancer survivors and activists. OCNA advocates for increased federal funding for research that leads to an effective detection test, better treatments and ultimately a cure for the disease. OCNA also educates women and health care practitioners about ovarian cancer symptoms and risk factors to improve the chances that women will be diagnosed earlier. In addition, as the umbrella organization of 45 national, regional and local ovarian cancer groups, OCNA leverages the power of the growing number of voices demanding a different future for everyone who has been or will be touched by ovarian cancer.