What to Say to Your Newly Elected (or Reelected) Representatives and Senator

This is a perfect time to catch up with any of your elected officials whether they were in an election or not. Members and candidates who were running for office or defending their seat are now going about the work of shutting down the campaign and transitioning to representing their constituents. Those 67 senators who did not have to run this cycle are returning from their travels helping other candidates within their party.

So what should advocates be doing now? You should be reaching out to your representatives and senators. If they are newly elected, look for their campaign office (NOTE: if you can’t find it, call the local party office for the party of the newly elected official). If they were re-elected, they have state and district offices set up. Call them up and set up a meeting.

What should you say? The biggest issues facing prostate cancer patients right now are early detection and access to testing and research funding. Awareness, education and early detection of prostate cancer are going to be the most interesting topics to discuss. Here are some ideas to help you direct the conversation:

• The recommendation made by a government task force (the United States Preventive Services Task Force) conveys the wrong message about testing for prostate cancer particularly to men who are at the highest risk of being diagnosed with the disease – African-American men and men with a family history of the disease;
• Men should be educated about the pros and cons of testing so that they can make a decision about it for themselves. Currently, men are being told they don’t need to get tested and more men are following that advice even if they fall into an elevated risk group for prostate cancer;
• The current recommendation states that men shouldn’t get tested for prostate cancer until symptoms occur. The problem with this is that once symptoms occur, the cancer has most likely metastasized beyond the prostate gland, will be more difficult to treat, and reduces a man’s chances of survival;
• We need the federal government to encourage testing and education about what the test means and how to make better decisions which will lead to true cost savings – the current recommendation will lead to more advanced prostate cancer patients requiring more expensive treatments;
• BE SURE TO TELL THEM ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY PROSTATE CANCER.

If you are interested in other ideas or need help finding your representative or senators for the 113th Congress, which will convene in January, please contact Kevin (kevin@zerocancer.org).