THE MARCH: Coming Together to Conquer Cancertrade mark.

Hype or hope? We have heard these words characterize recent reports on this country's so-called "war against cancer." For the eight million people like me who have had cancer, and for the millions that are being diagnosed this year, nothing happens soon enough. But, I am concerned about the message this type of reporting sends to people and the phones that then ring off the hook at my office from people who are desperately looking for a "cure for cancer." How are we going to translate this science into applications for people? How are people going to get access to it? We don't have a healthcare system that wants to pay for clinical research, which is what we're talking about here. This is a serious problem. And this problem is not new to us. My name is Ellen Stovall and I am one of this country's more than eight million cancer survivors. On December 23, 1971, President Richard Nixon signed into law the National Cancer Act. That day also marked something very personal for me. That was the day I began treatment for Hodgkin's disease. I remember going home that night rocking to sleep my two-month-old baby boy, Jonathan. He's now 26. And I remember my dear father calling me to tell me that he had seen the President on television that night, and that the President had declared a war on cancer for me. Today, that seven-year promise goes unfulfilled. Nearly 27 years later, we are still waiting. We have grown tired of waiting. We have been silent too long. We must begin to say, "NO MORE." On September 26, 1998, cancer survivors, their families, friends, caregivers, and co-workers-everyone whose life has been touched by cancer-will rally on The Mall in Washington, D.C. and in communities across the country as part of a national grassroots campaign to make cancer our nation's #1 research and healthcare priority. I invite you to join us in this campaign, called THE MARCH.Coming Together To Conquer Cancertrade mark.