BILL NUMBER: SCR 118ENROLLED BILL TEXT ADOPTED IN SENATE MARCH 31, 2016 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Senator Glazer (Coauthor: Assembly Member Gipson) MARCH 15, 2016 Relative to Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 118, Glazer. Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. This bill would designate March 2016 as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Californians, with 14,510 new cases and 5,180 deaths expected in 2016; and WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is treatable, curable, and in many cases, completely preventable; and WHEREAS, When colorectal cancers are detected at an early stage, the survival rate is 95 percent; and WHEREAS, There were approximately 1 million colorectal cancer survivors in the United States in 2002; and WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is known as a silent killer because symptoms only show up in the later stages of the disease; and WHEREAS, With proper screening, colorectal cancer can be prevented or, if found early, treated and cured; and WHEREAS, In 2013, only 49 percent of California adults 50 years of age and older had received a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy, and 34 percent had received a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) to screen for colorectal cancer; and WHEREAS, According to the United States Preventive Services Task Force, access to appropriate use of colorectal cancer screening tests, such as colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies, and fecal occult blood tests (FOBT)/fecal immunochemical tests (FIT), could reduce death rates of colon cancer up to 66 percent; and WHEREAS, According to the American Cancer Society, in 2012, only about 42 percent of colorectal cancers were diagnosed at an early, more treatable and curable stage; and WHEREAS, The uninsured, underinsured, and underserved are least likely to get screening for colorectal cancer, which means they are more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage when chances of survival drop to 13 percent; and WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer screening is one of the most cost-effective prevention measures in health care, more cost effective than breast or prostate cancer screening; and WHEREAS, African Americans have the highest colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates of all racial groups in this country; and WHEREAS, In California, colorectal cancer is the most common cancer among Korean men and Hmong women, the second most common cancer among Hispanic, Japanese, South Asian, Kampuchean, and Hawaiian men, and the second most common cancer among Chinese, Filipino, Hispanic, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Vietnamese, and Hawaiian women; and WHEREAS, The California Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C4) is a nonprofit organization established to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in an effort to decrease mortality associated with the disease, and to implement strategies to reduce disparities in colorectal cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment among underserved populations in California; and WHEREAS, The California Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C4) encourages Californians to discuss the colorectal cancer screening test that is best for them with their doctors and believes that the best test is the one you have done now; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature designates the month of March 2016 as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.