Presidential Document2023-07310
National Cancer Control Month, 2023
Primary source
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Published
April 5, 2023
Signed
March 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20363-20365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07310]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 65 / Wednesday, April 5, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 20363]]
Proclamation 10542 of March 31, 2023
National Cancer Control Month, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Cancer has touched nearly every American family, and it
remains the second leading cause of death in the United
States. During National Cancer Control Month, we call
on all Americans to join our movement to end cancer as
we know it. By raising awareness of the risk factors,
promoting life-saving regular screenings, investing in
research, and expanding access to affordable treatment,
we can give patients, survivors, and their families the
hope and new beginnings they deserve.
We have made enormous progress in the half-century
since our country first declared war on cancer. We have
learned it is not a single disease but, in fact, over
200 different types of cancers caused by different
genetic mutations. We have discovered life-saving
prevention and early detection measures, new medicines,
and innovative therapies, slashing the death rate by a
third since 1991. But despite all that progress, cancer
still claims the lives of over 600,000 Americans a
year. And for many communities of color, the mortality
rates are far worse, with Black Americans facing the
highest mortality rate of any racial and ethnic group
for all cancers combined and for most major cancers.
Patients and their loved ones are still overwhelmed by
a flood of unfamiliar information; worried about how
they will pay for treatment; and awash in bewilderment,
frustration, and fear. And those who have lost someone
have often lost a piece of their soul.
I am more confident than ever, though, that we can
change things. Last year, as part of the Unity Agenda
that I outlined during my State of the Union Address,
the First Lady and I reignited the Cancer Moonshot
initiative that President Barack Obama first asked me
to lead in 2016. We have set a new goal to cut
America's cancer death rate by half in the next 25
years, turning more cancers from death sentences into
treatable diseases and creating a more supportive
experience for patients and families. As a first step,
I established the Advanced Research Projects Agency for
Health, securing $2.5 billion in bipartisan funding
from the Congress to develop breakthroughs in
preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer and other
deadly diseases. This will pioneer partnerships to get
those breakthroughs to the clinic. Additionally, I
signed an Executive Order that will require
biotechnology to be made in America, preserving access
to lifesaving medications and making sure we lead the
world in biotech innovation.
Improving treatment options is only part of the fight--
we also need to make those treatments more affordable
for everyone. To that end, the American Rescue Plan
expanded the Affordable Care Act, which requires
insurers to pay for cancer screenings and primary care
visits and to cover cancer survivors and others who
have preexisting conditions. We are working to make
sure insurers cover patient navigation services, too,
to help patients, caregivers, and families through
screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survival.
Meanwhile, the Inflation Reduction Act will cap out-of-
pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare at $2,000 per
year. This is a gamechanger for cancer patients in
particular, whose medicines can currently cost seven
times that. And the Honoring our PACT Act is ensuring
that veterans exposed
[[Page 20364]]
to cancer-causing toxic substances during their
military service get the health care and benefits that
they have earned.
More than a third of all cancer cases are preventable,
so my Administration is working to reduce people's
exposure to risk factors. That starts with tackling the
top cause of cancer deaths in this country: smoking.
The Food and Drug Administration has proposed rules to
ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, which could
prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths. For help
quitting or avoiding smoking in the first place, visit
<a href="http://SmokeFree.gov">SmokeFree.gov</a>, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, or text QUITNOW to
333888.
We are also making it easier for Americans to adopt
healthy eating and exercise habits, which have been
shown to lower cancer risk. Our national strategy to
end hunger seeks to provide healthy, free school meals
to millions of kids; boost Medicaid and Medicare
coverage for things like nutrition and obesity
counseling; and make fruits and vegetables more
affordable for low-income families.
Because detecting cancer early can increase survival,
we urge all Americans to catch up on routine screening
appointments they may have missed during the pandemic
and to encourage loved ones to do the same. In the last
year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
issued more than $200 million in grants to support
cancer screening in every State, many United States
territories, and Tribal Nations. The Department of
Health and Human Services is helping community health
centers improve access to early detection, too. To
learn which screenings are right for you, talk to your
health care provider, visit <a href="http://cdc.gov/cancerscreeningorcancer.gov/screeningtests">cdc.gov/cancerscreeningorcancer.gov/screeningtests</a>, or call 1-
800-4-CANCER.
The fight against cancer is personal to so many
families, including ours. It is one of the reasons I
ran for President. And it is something big that we can
all do together. Cancer does not care if you are
Republican or Democrat--we need everyone in the game.
We need the scientific and medical communities,
bringing their boldest thinking. We need the private
sector, testing new treatments and sharing more
knowledge. We need people living with cancer,
survivors, caregivers, and families, whose absolute
courage this work is all about. For the lives we can
save and those we have lost, let this be a truly
American moment that rallies the country and the world
together to end cancer as we know it and to cure some
cancers for good.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, do hereby proclaim April
2023 as National Cancer Control Month. I encourage
citizens, government agencies, private businesses,
nonprofit organizations, and other interested groups to
join in activities that will increase awareness of what
Americans can do to prevent, detect, treat, and control
cancer.
[[Page 20365]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
seventh.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-07310
Filed 4-4-23; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 5, 2023.
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