Rally Foundation Celebrates a 33% Increase in Federal Funding for Cancers in Children, Adolescent and Young Adults in 2018 Omnibus Bill

ATLANTA, April 10, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research is pleased to announce that federal funding for cancers in children, adolescents and young adults increased from $60 million in last year’s Department of Defense (DoD) budget to $80 million in 2018, via the recently passed Omnibus Bill.

A bi-partisan request from Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA), and Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL), along with tremendous support from Department of Defense Subcommittee member, Congressman Tom Graves (R-GA), helped secure the 33% increase in funding for children, adolescent and young adult cancer research, which is a part of the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

Rally Foundation, in partnership with The Nicolas Conor Institute, met with members of Congress and submitted a letter of support for the increase in federal funding to the DoD Subcommittee with more than 800 signatures from patient advocates, supporting oncologists and more than 200 childhood cancer advocacy organizations.

“More than 86% of our active military are married and have children. Cancer is the #1 disease killer of school children, adolescents and young adults in America, and the increased funding in the Department of Defense’s research budget to fight cancer for this population shows tremendous support from Congress for the brave men and women fighting for our great nation on the front line.”

In June of 2017, Rally Foundation made the historic announcement that for the first time ever, researchers could apply for federal funding for pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancers, through the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), as part of its $60 million Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program. Achieving this federal funding was a milestone moment for childhood cancer advocacy organizations across the country, as up until then, the $1 billion DoD medical research budget did not include cancer research for children, adolescents and young adults.

Learn more about Rally’s advocacy work and sign the letter of support for the FY2018 request of the DoD CDMRP at RallyFoundation.org/DoD-CDMRP. For more information on how to get involved with Rally, or to donate, visit RallyFoundation.org