ACS CAN Comments on Lack of Support for Commission on Cancer Research

in Governor’s Budget

TRENTON, NJ – March 30, 2018 – The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s (ACS CAN) New Jersey Government Relations Director Brian Shott has released the following statement in response to the lack of funding in Governor Murphy’s proposed budget for a program that is crucial to saving lives in New Jersey:

“On behalf of cancer patients and survivors and all those at risk of developing the disease, I am concerned to see that Governor Murphy has not included funding for an important program in New Jersey that helps save lives.

“We are disappointed that the governor has proposed to eliminate $2 million in funding for the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research. This program supports research in our state that has provided significant advances in the fight against cancer and in saving lives and protecting health. If this elimination of funding is sustained, it puts at risk current cancer research as well as our ability to keep some of our country’s top clinicians in our state.

“It is projected that in 2018 more than 53,000 New Jerseyans will hear the message that they have cancer. More than 16,000 of our state’s residents will lose their lives to cancer this year. We know that we can and must do better. Governor Murphy often has spoken of the need to keep our state at the forefront of innovation, and this development is certainly contrary to that pledge.

“We look forward to working with the Governor and the legislature to correct this shortsighted portion of the budget.”

ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.acscan.org.

###