Senate Bill sb1156

    Florida Senate - 2005        (NP)                      SR 1156

    By Senators Wilson, Hill, Lawson, Miller, Siplin, Dawson, Diaz
    de la Portilla, Villalobos, Bullard and Garcia




    33-6A-05

  1                    Senate Resolution No. ____

  2         A resolution recognizing the week of April

  3         17-23, 2005, as "Minority Cancer Awareness

  4         Week" in the State of Florida.

  5  

  6         WHEREAS, there has been recent progress in the fight

  7  against cancer, yet many Floridians still suffer unequal rates

  8  of cancer incidence and mortality, and medically underserved

  9  populations have inadequate access to quality cancer

10  prevention, screening, treatment, and rehabilitation services,

11  and

12         WHEREAS, certain populations of Floridians, such as

13  African-Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, and the medically

14  uninsured, experience higher rates of cancer incidence and

15  death, and

16         WHEREAS, even when poverty levels are accounted for,

17  African-Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and

18  Pacific Islanders have lower 5-year-cancer-survival rates than

19  whites who are not of Hispanic descent, and

20         WHEREAS, among all racial and ethnic groups,

21  African-Americans are the largest minority group in the state

22  and suffer the highest death rate from all cancers and the

23  highest death rate from lung, bronchial, colorectal, female

24  breast, prostate, and uterine cancers, and

25         WHEREAS, Hispanics and Latinos are the fastest-growing

26  segment of the nation's population, and are expected to become

27  the largest minority population in Florida, and

28         WHEREAS, almost 35 percent of the Hispanic and Latino

29  population has no health care coverage and almost 31 percent

30  have no access to regular medical care, making Hispanics and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2005        (NP)                      SR 1156
    33-6A-05




 1  Latinos the most medically underserved population among all

 2  racial and ethnic groups, and

 3         WHEREAS, 18.7 percent of adult Floridians have no

 4  health care coverage and frequently lack access to quality

 5  health care, including potentially lifesaving services to

 6  screen for, detect, and treat cancer, and

 7         WHEREAS, minority cancer awareness initiatives, such as

 8  those promoted by the American Cancer Society and Florida's

 9  recognition of the nationally observed Minority Cancer

10  Awareness Week, will encourage efforts to reduce ethnic,

11  racial, and socioeconomic cancer disparities, NOW, THEREFORE,

12  

13  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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15         That the Florida Senate recognizes the week of April

16  17-23, 2005, the third week of the month, as "Minority Cancer

17  Awareness Week" in the State of Florida and urges all

18  Floridians to work with cancer education providers, such as

19  the American Cancer Society, to increase awareness of the

20  disparities that minority populations face in the fight

21  against cancer.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.