HR 9135 2003
1	House Resolution
2	A resolution recognizing September 2003 as "Prostate
3	Cancer Awareness Month" in Florida.
4
5	WHEREAS, Florida ranks second highest in the nation in the
6	number of cases of prostate cancer diagnosed and deaths
7	attributed to this disease, the most common type of cancer
8	occurring among men in Florida, with an estimated 15,000 new
9	cases having been diagnosed and 2,400 deaths recorded in the
10	year 2002, and
11	WHEREAS, African American men, who have the highest
12	prostate cancer death rate in the world, have a 47-percent
13	higher incidence of the disease than white men and twice the
14	mortality rate, and
15	WHEREAS, the five-year survival rate for patients whose
16	cancers are diagnosed during the early stages is 100 percent;
17	therefore, the American Cancer Society recommends annual
18	prostate screening beginning at age 45 for high-risk men such as
19	African Americans and those with a family history of the disease
20	and at age 50 for the rest of the male population, and
21	WHEREAS, the American Cancer Society strongly supports
22	African American Men's Health Summits, held in 16 major
23	metropolitan areas of the state and designed to increase
24	prostate cancer awareness and promote prostate screening among
25	African American men in Florida; and the Society's Man-to-Man
26	program is a further attempt to provide much-needed awareness,
27	education, and support in connection with this all-too-prevalent
28	disease, NOW, THEREFORE,
29
30	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
31	Florida:
32
33	That the Florida House of Representatives recognizes the
34	month of September 2003 as "Prostate Cancer Awareness Month" in
35	Florida and urges all men to become acquainted with the risks
36	associated with prostate cancer, to take preventive steps to
37	minimize those risks, and to consult their doctors about annual
38	prostate cancer screening and compliance with the American
39	Cancer Society's recommended prostate cancer screening
40	guidelines.