Cancer bus in Gallup

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Area residents will have the chance to sign a different kind of political petition on Monday evening.

It’s literally rolling into Gallup — on four wheels — and it’s called the Fight Back Express. Anyone with strongly held views about the importance of defeating the disease of cancer is invited to sign a “rolling petition” bus that is heading to Washington.

The bus stop in Gallup is part of a six-month, 48-state public awareness tour that is being sponsored by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy partner of the American Cancer Society. With over 560,000 Americans dying of cancer each year, ACS CAN wants citizens to consider how political candidates, elected officials, and government policy makers can become critical partners in making the defeat of cancer a top national priority. The theme of the tour is “If one person can battle cancer, a nation can rise up and defeat it.”

Gallup-area residents are invited to attend a rally from 5 to 5:45 p.m. today at the New Mexico Cancer Center, 2240 College Dr. According to Paula Butler of the New Mexico ACS CAN office, the bus includes a mobile action center where citizens can sign a petition calling for access to quality health care for all Americans, send an e-mail to members of Congress, and of course, sign the bus.

“We will invite everybody there to actually sign the bus,” Butler said in a recent interview. In addition, she said, cancer survivors can complete an electronic “Picture A Cure” form, which allows survivors to send their name, photograph, and personal cancer story to government officials. The bus will then travel to Washington by Election Day, Nov. 4.

In addition to those activities, the rally will feature a number of guest speakers. At the conclusion of the rally, the New Mexico Cancer Center will host tours of its facility.

Butler cited a number of statewide accomplishments in the battle against cancer: the establishment of New Mexico as smoke-free, increased funding for the New Mexico Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program for uninsured and underinsured women, and legislation that requires health insurance companies to include complete colorectal screening tests in their benefits packages.

However, Butler said, ACS CAN has numerous national priorities it continues to pursue: increasing funding for cancer research, particularly the National Cancer Institute; increasing funding for prevention and early detection programs; and working to pass smoke-free laws across the entire country. Currently, she said, only 28 states are smoke-free.

As for ACS CAN’s goal of realizing access to quality health care for all citizens, Butler said 47 million Americans still don’t have health insurance, and millions more have inadequate insurance. As a result, she said, Americans who can’t afford screening tests routinely end up dying of cancer.

Information: www.acscan.org/bus