Advocating for Cancer Registrars

NCRA takes an active role in advocating on behalf of cancer registrars and registries. The role of cancer registrars and the cancer registry system is one of the most fundamental ways public health professionals, physicians, and researchers understand and address cancer.

One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC)

One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) is a collaboration of national non-profit organizations representing millions of Americans, delivering a unified message to Congress and the White House on the need for increased cancer-related appropriations. NCRA is an active member of OVAC, representing the role and importance of cancer registrars and registries.  

Walk on Capitol Hill: A Day of Advocacy 

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Thanks to the more than 40 NCRA members who participated in our April 7 'Walk on the Hill' by meeting with 67 congressional offices! Held in conjunction with our educational conference, the meetings provided members of congress and their staffs a chance to learn more about cancer registries and registrars. Both in-person and virtual meetings were essential in outlining our current priorities. 

Immediately following this DC area event, NCRA opened up the opportunity for the full membership to get engaged through our April 18-29 Advocacy Now campaign. This was a first for NCRA where we developed an easy process for our members to send specific letters to their members of Congress. For this event 419 NCRA members participated which resulted in nearly 1200 letters sent to Congress in support of NCRA’s funding and policy priorities!

Specifically, NCRA members discussed the need for adequate funding for a Cancer Surveillance Cloud Computing Platform as part of the need for an increased budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. as well as increased appropriations for the National Cancer Institute (NCI).  

We also promoted the forthcoming Counting Veterans' Cancer Act that will require complete reporting of cases treated at Veterans Administration medical facilities to central cancer registries. According to 2017 data from the CDC, an estimated 26,500 cancer cases among veterans were not reported to state cancer registries funded through the National Program of Cancer Registries. Federal law requires CDC and NCI to collect cancer data for all newly diagnosed cancer cases, but that cannot be achieved due to frequent lack of reporting by the Department of Veterans' Affairs facilities. 

Strategic Alliances & Advocacy News

Recognizing NCRA’s work with its strategic partners requires timely communications with members, NCRA has established the e-brief to highlight key updates and news from its work with industry partners.

The content covered will be from NCRA’s formal liaisons to partner organizations and Adam Ebbin, NCRA’s Public Policy and Strategy Consultant. NCRA may also include information from its federal partners at the CDC and NCI on occasion.

Current Strategic Alliances & Advocacy Newsletter