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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County Relay For Life Organizer Sunny Mays was one of nearly 100 volunteers from across Alabama that visited Montgomery on Feb. 26 to meet with lawmakers about Medicaid expansion.

As part of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s annual Cancer Action Day, those that gathered at the Alabama State House called on lawmakers to make the fight against cancer a priority for healthcare in the state. Statistics show that around 30,000 people in Alabama are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year, and around 10,000 of those people will lose their fight to the disease. The visit by the volunteers aimed to help increase those survival numbers by way of Medicaid expansion.

“As a caregiver and advocate, I let my lawmakers know if we are going to eliminate cancer as a major health problem in Alabama, (then) this goal must be top of mind for our legislature,” Mays said. “By making Medicaid expansion a priority, we could ensure progress continues to reduce suffering and death from this disease. We met with our elected leaders as representatives of each one of the 30,000 people who are estimated to be diagnosed with cancer this year in Alabama.”

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) advocates for evidence-based public policies that aim to reduce the cancer burden for everyone.

“We engage our volunteers across the country to make their voices heard by policymakers at every level of government,” a press release from the ACS CAN said. “We believe everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to prevent, detect, treat and survive cancer. We stand with our volunteers, working to make cancer a top priority for policymakers in cities, states and our nation’s capital.”

For more information or to join the fight, visit www.fightcancer.org.