HR 9155 2003
1	House Resolution
2	A resolution recognizing April 2003 as Cancer Control
3	Awareness Month in Florida.
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5	WHEREAS, cancer strikes approximately three out of four
6	families, and it is estimated that two out of every five people
7	living in Florida will eventually develop this disease that
8	today accounts for one out of every four deaths in the state,
9	and
10	WHEREAS, the Florida Division of the American Cancer
11	Society estimates that a total of 96,100 new cases of cancer
12	will be diagnosed among the state's residents and that 40,100
13	Floridians will die from the disease during the year 2003, one-
14	third of which deaths will be related to nutrition, physical
15	inactivity, obesity, and other lifestyle factors and could have
16	been prevented, and
17	WHEREAS, lung cancer accounted for 13 percent of the
18	cancers diagnosed in 2002 and 28 percent of the cancer deaths,
19	all attributed to the use of tobacco and thus were 100 percent
20	preventable, and
21	WHEREAS, the 5-year survival rate for cancer victims is as
22	high as 95 percent if the disease is diagnosed at a localized,
23	early stage, a likelihood most probable with adherence to the
24	regular cancer screening guidelines developed by the American
25	Cancer Society, and
26	WHEREAS, it is hoped that Cancer Control Awareness Month
27	and statewide cancer-control initiatives such as the Florida
28	Dialog on Cancer sponsored by the American Cancer Society may be
29	a contributing factor in significantly reducing the burden of
30	cancer faced by Floridians today, NOW, THEREFORE,
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32	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
33	Florida:
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35	That the House of Representatives recognizes the month of
36	April 2003 as Cancer Control Awareness Month in Florida and
37	urges all Floridians to understand the risks associated with
38	cancer, to change behaviors that increase the risk of the
39	disease, and to follow the American Cancer Society screening
40	guidelines as an effective preventive measure.
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