PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oregon is making some progress on legislation to combat cancer, but the state still has a lot of work to do, according to the latest edition of How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality released today by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). Oregon measured up to policy recommendations in just four of the nine issue areas ranked.
“We’ve made tremendous progress in the way we diagnose and treat cancer across the country. But to leverage this progress, Oregon legislators must take advantage of the opportunities to pass evidence-based laws and policies that are proven to save lives and money,” said ACS CAN Oregon Director Luis Rodriguez. “In Oregon alone in 2015, 22,400 people will be diagnosed with cancer and 8,000 will die from it. We can’t wait to take action when the stakes are that high. This report outlines ways lawmakers can make a difference by emphasizing cancer prevention, curbing tobacco use and prioritizing quality of life for patients and their families.”
How Do You Measure Up? rates states in nine specific areas of public policy that can help fight cancer. A color-coded system classifies how well a state is doing in each issue. Green shows that a state has adopted best practices; yellow indicates moderate movement toward the benchmark and red shows where states are falling short.
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How Oregon Measures Up: MAKING PROGRESS |
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| Cigarette Tax Rates | YELLOW | ||||
| Smoke-free Laws | GREEN | ||||
| Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program Funding | YELLOW | ||||
| Medicaid Coverage of Tobacco Cessation Services | RED | ||||
| Indoor Tanning Device Restrictions | YELLOW | ||||
| Increased Access to Medicaid | GREEN | ||||
| Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Funding | RED | ||||
| Access to Palliative Care | GREEN | ||||
| Pain Policy | GREEN | ||||
Oregon progressed to green in the palliative care category with legislation passed this year that was recently signed into law by Governor Brown. Palliative care is essential to the goal of helping cancer patients and their families cope with diagnosis and treatment. It is a coordinated, team-based approach to relieving a patient’s pain and stress as they undergo treatment. Studies show cancer patients receiving palliative care are more likely to have positive outcomes and overall patient care costs actually go down. But, it isn’t available to everyone and that’s something ACS CAN is working across the country to change.
“Oregon legislators made a significant step forward this year by passing our palliative care legislation,” said Rodriguez. “ACS CAN applauds lawmakers for seeing the wisdom in adopting model legislation that includes creation of a multi-disciplinary advisory council made up of palliative care and health care experts within the state.”
Tweet this: How does #Oregon measure up when it comes to access to #palliative care? www.acscan.org/measure.
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.
