Connecticut Senator Receives National Award for Cancer Leadership
For Immediate Release
Date: 11/07/07
Contact: Renee Gaudette 203-436-8533 or renee.gaudette@yale.edu
New Haven, Conn. – Yale Cancer Center is pleased to announce that Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) has been awarded the Exemplary Comprehensive Cancer Control Leadership award by C-Change, a national organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major public health problem.
“Cancer patients, their families and loved ones, and those of us working to defeat cancer are very lucky to have Sen. Don Williams as a president of the state Senate. He cares deeply about health issues in general, and cancer in particular. The award he received from C-Change is richly deserved,” said Jerry Mande, Co-Chair of the C-Change Tobacco Control Team.
C-Change, a Washington-based group comprised of the nation's key cancer leaders from government, business, and nonprofit sectors, presented Senator Williams with the Exemplary Comprehensive Cancer Control Leadership award.
"In 2001, Connecticut had the sixth highest rate of cancer diagnosis in the nation, and more than 7,000 Connecticut residents died of cancer that year," Senator Williams said. "We knew that, as a state, we needed sea changes in our attitudes toward prevention and care to help address this problem, which has such a significant impact not only on our health care system but also on the lives of thousands of people in our state everyday."
"I have been proud to work with the Connecticut Cancer Partnership to help fund many of its plan's components through the state budget," said Senator Williams. "It is incumbent upon us as policymakers to do what we can to prevent and combat cancer. We have made some headway, but many challenges remain."
The Connecticut Cancer Partnership is a coalition of individuals and organizations representing stakeholders in Connecticut's cancer community. Its overall goal is to reduce the burden of cancer (incidence, morbidity, mortality, and disability) and to improve the quality of life of people with cancer in Connecticut.
For more information on C-Change, visit www.c-changetogether.org
For more information on the Connecticut Cancer Partnership, visit www.ctcancerpartnership.org