Forging A Future Free From Childhood Cancer

Crystal Cheah
Staff Writer

In 2012, President Barack Obama proclaimed September National Childhood Cancer Awareness month to remember and honor children who have been affected by these lethal diseases. Pediatric cancer is a leading cause of disease-related death among children and adolescents, ranging from ages one to 19, in the United States. Each year, nearly 250,000 children are diagnosed with cancer globally and more than 100,000 of them die from this life-threatening illness. Yet the causes of childhood cancer remains unknown.

As a large number of minors are afflicted by cancer, it is clear that the government needs to make decisions and actions to produce a more effective plan to lower the chance of children getting childhood cancer such as funding the research. In his Presidential Proclamation early this September, Obama stated that the government will persist on “advancing the fight against childhood cancer by supporting the vital studies that will continue to build on this progress.” The Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act was signed last year to fund pediatric cancer research for better understandings of cancer and new therapies in order to increase the number of cancer survivors.

As children battle with cancer and their families face the enormous burdens the ailment brings, they deserve access to quality and affordable health care, according to Obama. Under the law of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are banned from limiting insurance coverage to children due to pre-existing medical conditions. With its emphasis on preventing insurance companies from denying coverage, this act includes a provision that ensures coverage for individuals participating in clinical trials for cancer or other fatal diseases. The goal of the law is to make it easier for researchers to make successful trials and develop improved treatments for patients.

Everyone — all citizens, government agencies, private businesses, non-profit organizations, and other groups — is encouraged to join in activities that will increase awareness and prevention of childhood cancer.