Florida Senate - 2010                            (NP)    SR 1120
       
       
       
       By Senator Wilson
       
       
       
       
       33-01096-10                                           20101120__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the week of April 18-24,
    3         2010, as “Minority Cancer Awareness Week” in the State
    4         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 prevention,
   10  screening, treatment, and rehabilitation services, and
   11         WHEREAS, certain populations of Floridians, such as African
   12  Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, and the medically uninsured,
   13  experience higher rates of cancer incidence and death, and
   14         WHEREAS, even when poverty levels are accounted for,
   15  African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and
   16  Pacific Islanders have lower 5-year-cancer-survival rates than
   17  whites who are not of Hispanic descent, and
   18         WHEREAS, among all racial and ethnic groups, African
   19  Americans experience the highest death rate from all cancers and
   20  the highest death rate from lung, colorectal, prostate, and
   21  cervical cancers, and
   22         WHEREAS, Hispanics and Latinos are the fastest-growing
   23  segment of the nation’s population, and Hispanics are now the
   24  largest minority population in Florida, and
   25         WHEREAS, almost 35 percent of the Hispanic and Latino
   26  population have no health care coverage and almost 31 percent
   27  have no access to regular medical care, making Hispanics and
   28  Latinos the most medically underserved population among all
   29  racial and ethnic groups, and
   30         WHEREAS, approximately 2.8 million or 19.2 percent of adult
   31  Floridians have no health insurance coverage and frequently lack
   32  access to quality health care, including potentially lifesaving
   33  services that screen for, detect, and treat cancer, and
   34         WHEREAS, minority cancer awareness initiatives, such as
   35  those promoted by the American Cancer Society and Florida’s
   36  recognition of the nationally observed Minority Cancer Awareness
   37  Week, will encourage efforts to reduce ethnic, racial, and
   38  socioeconomic cancer disparities, NOW, THEREFORE,
   39  
   40  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   41  
   42         That the Florida Senate recognizes April 18-24, 2010, as
   43  “Minority Cancer Awareness Week” in the State of Florida, and
   44  urges all Floridians to work with cancer-education providers,
   45  such as the American Cancer Society, to increase awareness of
   46  the disparities that minority populations face in the fight
   47  against cancer.