Bill Text: NY K00951 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim November 1, 2022, as Lung Cancer Screening Awareness Day in the State of New York

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 28-16)

Status: (Passed) 2022-05-23 - adopted [K00951 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-K00951-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 951

BY: M. of A. Rules (Rosenthal L)

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        November 1, 2022, 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 1, 2022, as Lung
Cancer Screening Awareness Day in the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS, According to the American Cancer Society, 235,760 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 close to 14,000 New York State residents being
diagnosed with the disease in 2021, and an estimated 6,860  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-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  51st  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 1, 2022, 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.