Media Contact: Patrick Wright -- Patrick.Wright@mail.house.gov
Washington, D.C. — Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. wrote a letter to President Biden in January and requested him to issue a presidential proclamation to designate March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The Biden Administration agreed and made the proclamation official on March 1, 2021.
“I want to thank President Biden for this proclamation because awareness is so critical to defeating this terrible disease,” said Rep. Payne, Jr. “More awareness will encourage more people to get screened because screenings save lives. In addition, awareness promotes more understanding in Congress, so we can get more funding for medical efforts to fight this cancer. I lost my father, Donald M. Payne, Sr. to colorectal cancer almost ten years ago. I want to make sure more families do not lose their fathers and loved ones to this dreaded disease.”
The proclamation states that “each year, colorectal cancer claims more than 50,000 American lives, making it the second leading cause of cancer deaths in our Nation. National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is a chance to bring greater attention to this terrible disease and to offer what families living through it need most: hope.” This month, President Biden encourages “all Americans to talk to family and friends about getting screened. If we look out for one another, we can reduce suffering, increase the odds of cancer survival, keep more families whole, and win this fight once and for all.”
It comes as Rep. Payne, Jr. introduces The Donald Payne Sr. Colorectal Cancer Detection Act. The bill would require Medicare to cover FDA-approved blood-based screening tests to help Americans determine whether they are at risk for colorectal cancer. These tests would allow people to understand their risk before they schedule a more invasive colonoscopy, the most accurate colorectal cancer screening test available.
Original source can be found here.
