Alaskans contribute to national cancer fight

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Susan Smalley represented the area last week at an American Cancer Society Action Network event in Washington, D.C.

Photo by M. Scott Moon

It is estimated that nearly 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and roughly 565,000 are expected to succumb to the cruel malady.

“Cancer is the most feared disease in America,” said Jennifer Adzima, the American Cancer Society’s grassroots manager for Alaska. “In our state alone, we will see an estimated 2,010 new cases and 810 deaths.”

The American Cancer Society, formed in 1913, is today the nation’s leading voluntary health organization. Since 2002, its nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy sister organization, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), has sent “celebration ambassadors” to an event held in Washington, D.C. meant to make Congress and other government leaders more aware of the continuing need for a national commitment to eliminating cancer as a health concern. This year’s event is named “Celebration on the Hill 2006.”

Kenai resident Susan Smalley, herself a cancer survivor, was named by the society to represent Kenai at the event held Sept. 19 and 20. She spent the better part of four days in the nation’s capital. A press release from the society said Smalley was among 10,000 fellow celebration ambassadors, cancer survivors and volunteers from every congressional district in the country.

“My mother’s breast cancer at age 80 made me vigilant in following recommendations regarding self-care,” Smalley said. In 2001, Smalley contracted beast cancer herself, but early detection coupled with medical advances, the aid of dedicated health professionals and health insurance helped make her a survivor, she said. “I was, and continue to be grateful, but it is impossible not to be aware of those around me who don’t have those same resources,” Smalley said

Celebration ambassadors are community leaders, cancer survivors, caregivers, health professionals, cancer researchers and volunteers who believe defeating cancer will require courageous policy decisions by officials at all levels of government. The federal government is considered key to that battle.

Unfortunately, in December 2005, Congress cut the budget of the National Institutes of Health for the first time in 35 years and reduced funding for cancer research for the first time in a decade.

This year, Smalley and the other ambassadors urged Congress to restore and increase federal funding for lifesaving cancer research at the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

They also asked Congress to reauthorize and expand CDC’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which would give states more flexibility to reach eligible women who are most in need, the press release noted. According to the society, increasing funding by just $45 million would enable the program to serve an additional 130,000 or more women.

Smalley said she left Washington, D.C., convinced members of Congress would work hard to restore funding.

“It felt like Democracy at its best,” Smalley said, adding that they were received cordially by Rep. Don Young and Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski and congressional aides. “When we spoke with Lisa, she signed the cancer promise in person — a promise to keep cancer research as a national health priority,” Smalley said.

It is a goal of the fundraising and advocacy efforts that continued research will have physicians treating cancer like a chronic disease by 2015. That might seem like a huge leap, Smalley noted, but advances in treatment regimes, medical discoveries and changes in protocol are reasons to believe that goal is achievable.

Celebration on the Hill 2006 harnessed the grassroots efforts of 4,750 communities across the country that had hosted Relay For Life events — unique overnight activities that offer community members a chance to participate in the fight against cancer. The events, which include such things as cancer walks, run through the night as a way of raising awareness that “cancer never sleeps.”

The Kenai Peninsula Relay For Life was held June 2-3 and ran 20 hours between 6 p.m. and 2 p.m. the next afternoon.

Alaska’s fundraising efforts were highly successful. According to the society, Alaska as a whole raised more than $800,000 from eight Relay For Life events held across the state. That money went toward American Cancer Society research, education, advocacy and service programs.

The peninsula effort did well enough to be awarded third place in per-capita fundraising among communities with populations between 50,000 and 59,999 in the society’s 12-state Great West Division (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming).

The peninsula was able to raise $63,007 after expenses for an average of about $1.22 per person on the peninsula. First place went to Eddy County in New Mexico ($2.26 per capita), while Lea County, also in New Mexico, was second ($1.56 per capita). However, those two locations had two events each in the year.

That makes the peninsula’s contribution “kind of awesome,” said Leslie Jones, media relations and marketing for the American Cancer Society for Western Washington and Alaska.

The Relay For Life of the Kenai Peninsula is gearing up for the 2007 effort and is recruiting new committee members and teams to participate. If interested, call (800) 227-2345.

Hal Spence can be reached at harold.spence@peninsulaclarion.com.