Drafter

Clerk 09/07/2017

Title

A RESOLUTION recognizing September 2017 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Body

                     WHEREAS, throughout the month of September, King County residents join people across the United States to support families facing childhood cancer to demonstrate dedication to fighting this terrible disease and remember the lives taken too soon, and

                     WHEREAS, cancer is the leading cause of death for children, ages one to fourteen years old, in King County.  This tragic disease is detected in more than 16,000 of our country's young people each and every year, and

                     WHEREAS, the King County Board of Health committed to pursuing cancer prevention strategies in the 2017 work plan, and

                     WHEREAS, in 2015, the Board of Health passed a resolution to address youth tobacco use, calling on the Washington state Legislature to increase the legal age for a person to be sold or given, or to purchase, attempt to purchase or to possess, tobacco products or vapor products, from eighteen to twenty-one years old, and

                     WHEREAS, the Board of Health supports state efforts to prevent youth sales, access and addiction to carcinogenic vapor products and e-cigarettes, and

                     WHEREAS, King County is home to some of the nation's most-skilled and cutting-edge cancer institutes, including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Seattle Children's, and

                     WHEREAS, researchers at Seattle Children's are working on innovative therapies to cure childhood cancer and improve survivors' quality of life, and

                     WHEREAS, in 2016, the Board of Health passed Resolution 16-08, encouraging efforts to protect individuals within King County from human papillomavirus ("HPV")-associated cancers and other conditions by improving HPV vaccination rates and increasing knowledge and acceptance of HPV vaccines among parents and adolescents.  King County allocated $400,000 for a vaccination program to prevent HPV and cervical cancer;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Health of King County:

                     A.  The Board of Health recognizes September 2017 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and reaffirms its commitment to raising awareness, investing in prevention and finding a cure for cancer.

                     B.  The Board of Health requests that Public Health - Seattle & King County

continue to build upon relationships with local cancer research institutes and organizations and look for new partnership opportunities.