Declare Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

2021; and WHEREAS, Pancreatic cancer has the lowest relative survival rate of all the cancers tracked by both the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute; and WHEREAS, 74 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within the first year of their diagnosis and only seven percent survive more than five years; and WHEREAS, Every year over 46,000 people will be diagnosed and more than 45,000 people will die of pancreatic cancer in the United States; that means approximately one in every 72 men and women born today will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in their lifetime, and over 2,000 New York residents yearly will die from the disease; and WHEREAS, There has been no significant improvement in survival rates in the last 40 years and pancreatic cancer research is still in the earliest scientific stages; and WHEREAS, The number of new pancreatic cancer cases and the number of deaths caused by the disease are increasing; the expected number of new pancreatic cancer cases is projected to increase by 55% between the years 2010 and 2030; and WHEREAS, When symptoms of pancreatic cancer generally present themselves, it is often too late for an optimistic prognosis, and the average survival rate is only five to seven months; and WHEREAS, People of Eastern European Jewish and African-American descent are diagnosed at a higher frequency than the rest of the population; and WHEREAS, Additional risk factors include but are not limited to: smoking, obesity, recent on-set diabetes, family history of pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis; and WHEREAS, Pancreatic cancer research is currently severely underfunded as compared to other cancers with similar mortality; it is urgent that we focus on this matter; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim November 2020, as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in the State of New York, and to urge its citizens to educate themselves about pancreatic cancer and the need for research funding, early detection methods, effective treatments, and prevention programs; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York.