Children’s Cause for Cancer Advocacy Adopts Principles of Health Reform for Childhood Cancer Survivors

CCCA Joins the Call for Comprehensive Health Care Reform  

Silver Spring, MD—The Children’s Cause for Cancer Advocacy (CCCA) adopted and released today a set of comprehensive principles of health care reform for the increasing childhood cancer survivorship population.  These principles address the unique challenges and needs of childhood cancer survivors and offer key recommendations for inclusion in any comprehensive reform measure during the 111^thCongress.  

“Health reform efforts must include care, both for the acute treatment needs of children as well as follow up care for the chronic conditions endured by childhood cancer survivors,” stated Susan Weiner, President of CCCA and co-editor of the 2003 Institute of Medicine Report on Childhood Cancer Survivorship.  

In its health reform proposal, CCCA maintains that several over-arching principles of childhood cancer survivorship must be addressed in the health reform debate and any subsequent legislation, including:

• Timely Access to Affordable, High Quality Cancer Care
• Improved Coordination and Integration of Health Care Services
• Long-Term Survivorship Care for Childhood Cancer Survivors
• Increased Research Funding

Each year, approximately 12,500 children 14 years and under are diagnosed with cancer and though there are approximately 300,000 survivors in the United States today, cancer remains the leading disease killer of children.  Progress in therapy has made survival into adulthood a reality for many children, adolescents, and young adults diagnosed with cancer today, however many of these survivors are unaware and unprepared to face the challenges likely to result from their disease and treatment.  

“Childhood cancer survivors face a number of issues ranging from access to timely diagnosis and treatments, poor coordination of health care services and follow-up care. As many as two-thirds of survivors are likely to also experience at least one late effect of treatment,” stated Craig Lustig, Executive Director of CCCA. “As the leading national advocacy organization that represents the perspectives of childhood cancer survivors, CCCA is committed to the reform of our nation’s health care system to ensure comprehensive, quality health care for the childhood cancer survivorship population.” 

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CCCA is a national organization that works to achieve access to less toxic and more effective therapies, expand resources for research and treatment, and to address the needs and challenges of childhood cancer survivors and their families.  CCCA also works to ensure that these needs and perspectives are integrated into the highest deliberations of cancer policy.