BILL NUMBER: SCR 22	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Steinberg
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Bass)

                        MARCH 9, 2009

   Relative to Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 22, as introduced, Steinberg. Colorectal Cancer Awareness
Month.
   This measure would designate March 2009, as Colorectal Cancer
Awareness Month.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer
deaths in both men and women in California, with 14,250 new cases and
5,140 deaths expected in 2009; and
   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is treatable, curable, and in many
cases, completely preventable; and
   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is known as a silent killer because
symptoms show up only in latest stages of the disease; and
   WHEREAS, With proper screening, colorectal cancer can be prevented
or, if found early, it can be treated and cured; and
   WHEREAS, Currently, only about 40 percent of the eligible
population gets screened; and
   WHEREAS, According to the Institute of Medicine, access to
appropriate use of colorectal cancer screening tests, such as
colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and fecal occult blood test, could reduce
death rates of colon cancer up to 80 percent; and
   WHEREAS, According to the American Cancer Society, in 2004, only
about 44 percent of colorectal cancers were diagnosed at an early,
more treatable and curable stage; and
   WHEREAS, The uninsured, underinsured and underserved are least
likely to get screening and treatment for colorectal cancer, which
means that they are more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage when
chances of survival drop to 9 percent; and
   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer screening is one of the most
cost-effective prevention measures in health care, more
cost-effective than breast cancer screening; and
   WHEREAS, African Americans have the highest colorectal cancer
incidence and mortality rates of all racial groups in this country;
and
   WHEREAS, Early detection rates among African Americans in
California are low; and
   WHEREAS, Hispanics and Latinos in California have lower rates of
screening for colorectal cancer, and lower rates of early detection
of the disease; and
   WHEREAS, In California, colorectal cancer is the most common
cancer among Korean men, the second most common cancer among Korean
women, and the second most common cancer among Japanese women and
women, and only 40 percent of colorectal cancer in Asians and Pacific
Islanders is caught at an early stage; and
   WHEREAS, The California Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C4) is a
nonprofit organization established to increase colorectal cancer
screening rates in an effort to decrease mortality associated with
the disease, and implement strategies to reduce disparities in
colorectal cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment among
populations is California; and
   WHEREAS, C4 encourages Californians to discuss the colorectal
cancer screening test that is best for them with their doctors and
believes that the best test is the one you can get done; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates March
2009, as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.