Congressman Invites President to Visit Roswell/Buffalo Medical Campus
In a letter to President Obama, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) applauded the commitment made in the President’s address to the nation to ‘launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American by seeking a cure for cancer in our time’ and he encouraged the President to personally witness the great work happening at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus when he visits the Western New York Area.
“Under the previous administration, there were $250 million in proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health over the last five years,” said Higgins. “This was irresponsible from an ethical standpoint and a financial perspective. Cancer costs America more in one year – an estimated $300 billion in health and lost productivity – than the federal government spent to fund NIH research over the last 15 years. Today’s research leads to tomorrow’s cures. With a serious national commitment to funding research those cures are within our reach.”
Congressman Higgins praised the allocation proposed in the President’s budget, “I am thrilled with the news that the President proposes doubling funding for cancer research, an increase of $6 billion. We are on the cusp of developing the medical means to reach the goal of eliminating all suffering and death due to cancer but that goal won’t be met without funding for research, technology and treatments. This budget demonstrates a new and long overdue commitment to this cause. “This is great news for the millions of Americans who suffer from cancer and their families and promising news locally for Roswell Park Cancer Institute here in Western New York whose employees work tirelessly every day toward the goal of ending suffering due to cancer in our lifetime.”
In addition to the funding included in the proposed budget, the Recovery Act included $10 billion dollars in additional funding for the National Institutes of Health which will help Western New York by increasing grant dollars to find new treatments for cancer at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and support the important work at the University of Buffalo and the Hauptmann-Woodward Research Institute. This research will lead to the next generation of high-tech jobs and small businesses in the region.
Men today have a one in two likelihood of developing invasive cancer in their lifetime; women have a one in three chance. Last year more than one million new cancer cases were diagnosed and 500,000 people died from cancer. Thirty years ago, fewer than fifty percent of those with cancer lived five years beyond their diagnosis date. The survival rate today is sixty-five percent for adults and eighty percent for children.
