Ask Your Member of Congress to Support the PRIME Opportunity for Men
Prostate cancer has reached epidemic proportions, and is now more common than breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 219,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, resulting in more than 27,000 deaths. It strikes one-in-six men and has become the most common major cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths of men in this country.
Yet, while women have life-saving mammograms, current diagnostic tools for prostate cancer are failing America’s men and leading to a patient care crisis. Without accurate diagnostic tools, patient care is blind. Although prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood tests have made it possible to diagnose prostate cancer earlier, it causes many false alarms and false reassurances. When PSA is abnormal, approximately 88 percent of men – or 1 million each year – undergo unnecessary biopsies and end up not having prostate cancer. In addition, blind biopsies miss or underestimate at least 20 percent of prostate cancers, leading to failed treatments. These false diagnostic alarms cost more than $2 billion annually in health expenses. Blind patient care leads to up to 44% of men having unnecessary treatment, which frequently causes life-changing impotence and incontinence.
A public-private coalition of leaders in medicine, philanthropy, and industry are currently working to rally public support and educate members of Congress about an important piece of legislation that will make a direct and profound impact on the quality of care men receive. The Prostate Research, Imaging, and Men’s Education Act (PRIME Act) will provide for appropriating $650 million to the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for prostate cancer imaging, research and education.
The PRIME Act highlights the prostate cancer crisis as a national priority, and diagnostic technologies as a solution. If passed, it will be an important step towards reducing the deaths, complications and costs associated with current prostate cancer care.
The AdMeTech Foundation, an organization leading the coalition and dedicated to the development of improved early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, is proud to be working with the Men’s Health Network to bring attention to this often overlooked national crisis. We encourage everyone to join our effort to secure parity for men’s health by giving doctors the tools they need for the early detection of prostate cancer.
Here’s how you can help:
Click here to send a pre-drafted letter to your Representatives.
Contact Men’s Health Network or the AdMeTech Foundation to express your support for this issue and or your willingness to contact your local members of Congress to schedule a phone call or an in-person meeting
For more information, please visit www.manogram.org .