ONS Signs on Support to Maintain Prevention and Public Health Fund

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

With the concern about the future implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the current economic environment, ONS has joined a number of other cancer organizations in raising Congress's awareness of the importance of a key prevention and detection fund included in the original legislation.

The Prevention and Public Health Fund provision in the PPACA represents the largest national commitment to preventing illness and injury in history. Congress appropriated $15 billion to the fund over the next 10 years to support implementation of evidence-based intervention to prevent disease and injury. That funding may be in jeopardy now, however, because of competing economic priorities.

“We firmly believe that disease prevention is a critical part of the solution to our economic issues that should be given far more prominence in our Nation’s health policy and our discussions over our spending priorities,” reads a letter to lawmakers developed by C-Change, a coalition of cancer leaders, of which ONS is a member.

The Prevention and Public Health Fund was designed to address four key prevention areas (community prevention, clinical prevention, public health infrastructure and training, and researching and tracking) as well as build on other initiatives focused on obesity and tobacco prevention, and healthcare-acquired infections.

“ONS is dedicated to advancing and ensuring access to quality cancer prevention and care and to bolstering the nation’s nursing workforce to safeguard the public health,” said ONS Health Policy Director Alec Stone. “This effort is very much in line with the ONS’s health policy priorities, and so we were happy to give our support.”

C-Change represents leaders from private, not-for-profit, and public sectors dedicated to the elimination of cancer as a major public health problem. Its interests span the healthcare continuum from research, prevention and detection, treatment, quality of life, and survivorship.