A Nebraskan's View by Senator Ben Nelson

Friday, September 4, 2009 ATTACKING AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE CANCER KILLER More people die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer. This is true for both men and women. The most recent statistics show that in 2005 lung cancer accounted for more deaths than breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer combined. In that year, more than 90 thousand men and 69 thousand women died from this terrible disease. During my statewide town hall meetings on health care reform, one thing that seems to have caught on with Nebraskans as it has with many of my colleagues is keeping people well. I have seen prevention and wellness work here in Nebraska and regularly cite the example of a large local employer that offered incentives to employees to lead healthier lifestyles which resulted in reducing the rate of smoking from 51 percent to 11 percent of its workers. Reduce Risk of Lung Cancer We need to continue to help people quit smoking in order to make them healthier, reduce their risk of lung cancer, and help bend the cost curve in our health care system with or without reform. That is why I’ve signed on as co-sponsor of the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009. S. 332 sets a goal to reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer by 50 percent by the year 2016. It would do this by reviewing and prioritizing research grants to make sure research funds are being properly directed. There would also be an expansion of research programs as well as expedited development of computer assisted diagnostic, surgical, treatment, and drug testing innovations. The bill also provides incentives for the development of chemo-prevention drugs for pre-cancerous conditions of the lung, drugs for targeted therapeutic treatments and vaccines for lung cancer, and new agents to curtail or prevent nicotine addiction. The legislation further provides for compassionate access to drugs, biological products, and devices under the lung cancer mortality reduction program. It also requires the Secretary to establish an early disease research and management program targeted at the high incidence and mortality rates among minority and low income populations. Tobacco Use in the Military The bill also takes into account relatively high levels of smoking in the military. A Pentagon study shows that 32 percent of service members use tobacco compared with 20 percent of civilian adults in the U.S. Tobacco use contributes to substantial costs for the Pentagon: $846 million a year, as well as lost productivity, according to the study, and the Department of Veterans Affairs spends up to $6 billion in treatments for tobacco-related illnesses each year. The bill requires the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to work with Health and Human Services to implement an early detection and disease management research program for military personnel and veterans whose smoking history and exposure to carcinogens during active duty service has increased their risk for lung cancer and to coordinate programs for military personnel and veterans diagnosed with lung cancer. The whole purpose is to develop a national public health effort to prevent lung cancer because of the hundreds of thousands of lives that are at risk. It is something that should be a top priority as we discuss health care because saving lives from cancer’s number one killer is one thing all Americans can support.