Campaigns

The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) is active in Washington, D.C., working to  keep melanoma awareness a high priority with elected officials and to encourage their support of research funding.

As a leading member in the melanoma advocacy community, MRF is working to:

• Secure $10 million for melanoma research in the Fiscal 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill as part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)

UPDATE: The House Appropriations Committee recently announced that $20 million has been dedicated to the Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) through the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Appropriations Act.  Melanoma and other skin cancers are listed as eligible for the PRCRP funding (along with other types of cancers) but a specific dollar amount was not devoted to melanoma research as it was in the 2009 budget.

• Dedicate $5 million for the skin cancer prevention activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Fiscal 2010 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill
• Allocate $1.5 million for the SunWise Program through the Environmental Protection Agency in the Fiscal 2010 Interior Appropriations Bill, designed to teach school children to protect themselves from overexposure to the sun
• Request the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand and better focus its melanoma research activities in the Fiscal 2010 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill

Since 2007, the MRF and National Melanoma Alliance’s accomplishments include:

• Adding melanoma and skin cancers to the Department of Defense’s CDMRP and helping to secure $4 million in the Fiscal 2009 budget for research into melanoma and other skin cancers
• Submission of NCI's Community-Oriented Strategic Action Plan for Melanoma Research Plan in July 2007. This plan was developed by the NCI in cooperation with representatives from the melanoma research and advocacy communities
• Inclusion of melanoma-specific report language in the Fiscal 2008 Senate Committee Report/National Cancer Institute section
• Inclusion of provisions of the Tanning Accountability and Notification Act of 2007 (TAN Act) in the Senate version of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration Revitalization Act

You can influence state and federal policy makers!  To read about current legislation, receive tips on communicating with elected officials, and to actually contact your Senator/Representative, visit http://capwiz.com/skincancerprevention/home/