00                    HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 1                                                                    
01 Proclaiming November 2011 to be Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.                                                      
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS an estimated 43,140 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in                                  
04 the United States in 2010, and an estimated 36,800 of those will die from the disease; and                              
05       WHEREAS, as the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States,                                      
06 pancreatic cancer ranks as one of the nation's deadliest cancers; and                                                   
07       WHEREAS, by the time symptoms of pancreatic cancer first appear, it is usually too                              
08 late for an optimistic prognosis; and                                                                                   
09       WHEREAS 75 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within a year after diagnosis,                             
10 and 94 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within five years after diagnosis; and                                 
11       WHEREAS the incidence of pancreatic cancer is approximately 50 percent higher in                                
12 African-Americans than in other ethnic groups; and                                                                      
13       WHEREAS the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics reported 158 deaths from pancreatic                               
14 cancer in Alaska during the period 2006 - 2008; and                                                                     
15       WHEREAS a cure for pancreatic cancer has not yet been found, and survival rates                                 
16 have not improved substantially in the last 40 years; and                                                               
01       WHEREAS the federal government invests significantly less money in pancreatic                                   
02 cancer research than it does in research on other forms of cancer that rank among the leading                           
03 causes of death by cancer; and                                                                                          
04       WHEREAS pancreatic cancer research funding constitutes only two percent of the                                  
05 National Cancer Institute's federal research funding--an amount far too low, given the severity                         
06 of the disease, the mortality rate, and how little is known about how to arrest the disease; and                        
07       WHEREAS the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, as the first and only national                                    
08 patient advocacy organization to serve the pancreatic cancer community in the state and                                 
09 nationwide, focuses its efforts on public policy, research funding, patient services, and public                        
10 awareness and education related to developing effective treatments and finding a cure for                               
11 pancreatic cancer; and                                                                                                  
12       WHEREAS the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, including its affiliates in the                                   
13 state, supports patients who are battling pancreatic cancer, honors those who have lost their                           
14 lives to the disease, and continues to pursue its commitment to finding and developing a cure                           
15 for pancreatic cancer; and                                                                                              
16       WHEREAS expanded research into locating the disease's causes, enhancing early                                   
17 detection, and developing effective treatments will increase awareness of and knowledge                                 
18 about pancreatic cancer among Alaskans and directly enhance the good health and well-being                              
19 of the state's residents;                                                                                               
20       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature proclaims November 2011 to be                                  
21 Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.