Federal Legislation Supports AdMeTech Foundation's Advocacy For National Strategy To Advance Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

U.S. Senators Boxer, Sessions Introduce Bill to Create National Prostate Cancer Council

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Sep 18, 2014, 09:00 ET

BOSTON, Sept. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) yesterday introduced legislation that would create a National Prostate Cancer Council, a group of federal agencies, patients, and medical experts charged with developing and implementing a national strategic plan to advance prostate cancer diagnostics to improve patient care.

This bipartisan bill reflects advocacy efforts of the AdMeTech Foundation, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, which created the Manogram^® Project in order to create accurate prostate cancer diagnostics akin to life-saving mammograms. AdMeTech's advocacy for the National Prostate Cancer Council has been supported and endorsed by the Washington-based ZERO - The End of Prostate Cancer. This bill was introduced to honor September as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, as declared by the White House on August 29, 2014.

"I applaud Senators Boxer and Sessions for recognizing the urgent need for the National Prostate Cancer Council Act," said Dr. Faina Shtern, president of AdMeTech Foundation. "I hope that this legislation will galvanize our leaders in science and government in order to make sure that every man will have access to accurate diagnostic tools. Early detection of aggressive prostate cancer will save close to 30,000 men annually. Accurate diagnosis of dormant disease will prevent close to 1 million unnecessary biopsies and 100,000 unnecessary treatment, with all the related costs and complications, each year."

According to AdMeTech Foundation, prostate cancer is the most common major malignancy in Massachusetts and the United States. Prostate cancer strikes 1 in 7 men and is more common than even breast cancer. And yet, public awareness is lagging behind, and prostate cancer has not been recognized as a national public health priority similar to that of breast cancer. Federal research funding is less than half compared to that of breast cancer, and men do not have accurate diagnostics akin to life-saving mammograms. An American man dies every 18 minutes. African American men are 60% more likely to be stricken and 250% more likely to die.

The National Prostate Cancer Council Act mandates leadership of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health in developing and implementing a national strategic plan for the accelerated creation, advancement, testing and clinical implementation of diagnostic tools to improve screening, early detection, assessment, and monitoring of prostate cancer. In addition, this bill mandates coordination of prostate cancer programs across all federal agencies and submission of annual progress reports to the US Congress.

About AdMeTech Foundation: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, AdMeTech is committed to ending the prostate cancer crisis. AdMeTech established the Manogram^® Project, which has been leading groundbreaking programs in research, advocacy, awareness and education for developing and implementing accurate diagnostic tools for improved screening, early detection and treatment. For more information, visit www.admetech.org.

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SOURCE AdMeTech Foundation