Greetings,

In our continuing efforts on behalf of the National Melanoma Alliance to connect programs and people across communities, we invite you to share your thoughts about research outreach, patient advocacy, and related issues.

We recognize the need to reach out and create ways to share information with one another that helps address the important need for better communication, interaction, and collaboration across sectors. This survey tool allows organizations to share important insight and experience and allows us to help facilitate a variety of activities across sectors.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.  Read more about the survey here:


Click Here to take survey 
 

Our Commitment

At the core of the National Melanoma Alliance's mission is national advocacy for greater melanoma research funding and the swift translation of research into life enhancing and extending treatments.

We Seek:

• Increased funding for melanoma research.
• Alignment of melanoma research priorities with pressing needs.
• Unity and consistency in messaging,  advocacy and outreach for melanoma activities. 
• A priority focus on accelerating the development and approval of effective methods for the prevention, treatment, and management of  melanoma. 

Our 2007-2008 Agenda
The Alliance, hand in hand with collaborating organizations, made strides on many fronts in advancing our 2007 Agenda. 

This agenda, addressing the critical need for greater research and public awareness of skin cancer prevention, consisted of:

• Established the National Melanoma Alliance to represent the collective voice of the melanoma patient and advocacy communities 
• Gaining melanoma-specific language in the National Cancer Institute section of the Committee Report accompanying the 2008 Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations bill. 
• Advocating for an increase from $2.1 million to $5 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's skin cancer prevention activities.
• Melanoma included in the diseases eligible for research funding from the Dept of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program.
• Securing congressional action on the Tanning Accountability and Notification Act of 2007.  
• Restoring $1.5 million in the Fiscal 2008 Interior Appropriations bill for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SunWise Program (designed to teach school children to protect themselves from overexposure to the sun).

Accomplishments to Date

Leadership on key issues resulted in notable advances for researchers and patients:

• Submission of NCI's Community-Oriented Strategic Action Plan for Melanoma Research Plan in July 2007. This plan developed by NCI in cooperation with representatives from the melanoma research and advocacy communities.


• Inclusion of melanoma-specific report language in the Fiscal 2008
  Senate Committee Report/National Cancer Institute section:
  
  Melanoma. Melanoma, which including in situ cases strikes 90,000 Americans a year, is the fastest growing cancer in the United States and worldwide. The etiology of the diseases is not well understood and the average life span of patients with advanced melanoma is less than 1 year.
  
  Nevertheless there is a shortage of researchers and a lack of effective drugs and treatments. The Committee commends NCI for a workshop in February2007 to develop a Strategic Action Plan for Melanoma Research. The Committee strongly encourages NCI to devote sufficient funds in those areas of research opportunity identified by the Plan and, similar to the mechanism established by NCI's Progress Review Groups, issue program announcements to solicit the best, most competitive research proposals in those targeted opportunity areas. The Committee directs NCI to report by July 1, 2008, on steps it has taken to implement the Strategic Action Plan for Melanoma Research. In addition, the Committee encourages NCI to support the creation of a Melanoma Investigators Consortium, and to fund a multi-site, multiyear, population-based clinical trial to test the efficacy of early detection methods. Currently, the absence of proof of the ability of early detection to reduce mortality has been a major barrier to implementation of screening for melanoma. The Committee also recommends increased collaboration between NCI and NIAMS on its melanoma research activities.
  

• Inclusion of provisions of the Tanning Accountability and Notification Act of 2007 in the Senate version of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration Revitalization Act.