Advocate

Lung cancer needs advocates for change. Because of the perception that lung cancer is a self-inflicted and thus deserved disease, we need help changing that as all lung cancer patients deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Advocates can also  be instrumental in helping us raise the funding for lung cancer research to levels that are commensurate with other major cancer killers. 

One of the challenges that lung cancer faces, is we have a limited number of survivors to act as advocates on their own behalf.  With a 16% survival rate, survivors are often too ill and overwhelmed to take up the mission of advocacy. We need desperately to involve family members or caregivers and educate them to be our interface with the  general population. 

The first step in becoming an advocate is to learn some of the startling facts about lung cancer that can be shared with your own circle of friends, family and co-workers. You may notice that we have tried to fill this website with some of the less known facts about lung cancer, presented in an easy and understandable way. A statement that says "437 people die everyday from lung cancer"may be less riveting than "the number of people dying everyday from lung cancer would be the same as a Jumbo Jet crashing and killing everyone on board every day." 

The disparities in funding are very real and deserve relating as well as the current survival rate.  We encourage advocates to use two to three of these facts when talking about lung cancer.  It is our  belief that each person who knows the facts  may bring us closer to erasing the stigma and understanding our  conviction that no one deserves lung cancer.

Sharing what you learn in emails, letters and contacts to the media is an important step in the advocacy process.   Did you know that November is supposed to be Lung Cancer Awareness Month?  Letters and petitions to the governor may make this a well known fact in the future, if we all do our part  to help people become aware.  Letters and emails to our Senators and Congressmen about the toll lung cancer takes on our county and the need for more Federal funding for research are also and important avenue for advocates.

Finally, getting involved with the activities of Lung Cancer Connection, could be an appropriate outlet for beginning your advocacy.   As stated in our volunteer section, there is the opportunity to become as involved as you are comfortable with and we invite your participation.