Bill Text: NY K00647 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim November 11, 2023, as Lung Cancer Screening Awareness Day in the State of New York

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 26-15)

Status: (Passed) 2023-06-06 - adopted [K00647 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K00647-Introduced.html

---

Assembly Resolution No. 647

BY: M. of A. Rosenthal L

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        November  11,  2023,  as   Lung   Cancer   Screening
        Awareness Day in the State of New York

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  custom  of this Legislative Body to recognize
official days that are set aside to increase awareness of serious health
issues that affect the lives of citizens of New York State; and

  WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and  in  full  accord  with  its
long-standing  traditions,  it  is the sense of this Legislative Body to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim November 11, 2023, as Lung
Cancer Screening Awareness Day in the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS, According to the American Cancer Society, 238,340 Americans
will be newly diagnosed with lung cancer this year and  lung  cancer  is
the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States; and

  WHEREAS, Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related death
in  New  York  State,  with  more than 14,100 estimated new cases of the
disease in New York State in 2023, and an estimated  6,330  New  Yorkers
will die from lung cancer this year; and

  WHEREAS,  Any person is at risk for developing lung cancer, as there
are many risk factors including smoking, family  history,  environmental
causes and other lifestyle factors; and

  WHEREAS,  Nearly half of lung cancer cases are not detected until it
is too late, and the  survival  rate  is  only  six  percent  for  those
diagnosed at a late stage; and

  WHEREAS,  The screening and early detection of lung cancer are vital
to the health and well-being of New York State residents; and

  WHEREAS, More needs to be done to educate high-risk Americans  about
lung  cancer,  as it accounts for more deaths than breast, prostate, and
colorectal cancer combined; and

  WHEREAS,  The  United  States  Preventative  Services   Task   Force
recommends  annual  screening  for  lung  cancer  with low-dose computed
tomography (LDCT) in adults aged 50 to 80 years who have  a  20  pack  a
year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15
years;  screening  people  who are at high risk for lung cancer can find
lung cancer at an early stage and improve their  chances  of  surviving;
and

  WHEREAS,  Lung  cancer  screening  with  low-dose  CT scans has been
recommended for those at high risk since 2013, but according  to  a  new
report released in 2020 by the American Lung Association (ALA), only 5.7
percent  of the eight million people who are at high-risk for developing
the disease are actually undergoing screening; and

  WHEREAS, Lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scans has been shown
to decrease mortality by 20 percent; and


  WHEREAS,  Since  the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, cross-sectional
analyses have revealed a 46-percent  plummet  in  new  cancer  diagnoses
nationwide across six common forms of cancer, including lung cancer; and

  WHEREAS, The National Cancer Institute (NCI) states that lung cancer
screenings  can  find abnormal tissues or lung cancer at an early stage,
before a person has symptoms, and can make lung cancer easier  to  treat
and achieve higher survival rates; waiting to treat until after symptoms
appear  may increase the likelihood the cancer has already metastasized;
and

  WHEREAS, This  year  marks  the  52nd  Anniversary  of  passing  the
National  Cancer  Act,  yet  screening  for and education of lung cancer
continues to be alarmingly low compared to other forms of cancer; and

  WHEREAS, It is imperative that there  be  greater  public  awareness
about  the risk of lung cancer to New Yorkers and the importance for New
York citizens to talk to their  healthcare  provider  about  recommended
lung  cancer  screenings,  and  be  screened  with  low-dose CT scans as
appropriate; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim November 11, 2023, as Lung
Cancer  Screening  Awareness  Day  in  the  State of New York; and be it
further

  RESOLVED, That copies of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted  to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York; the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network  New  York;  and
the American Lung Association in New York.