Mr. President, Isn't It Time to End Breast Cancer?

In 2011, nearly 40,000 women will die of breast cancer in the US; it will take the lives of almost 500,000 women worldwide. This nation has invested billions of dollars in breast cancer research and technology, yet the statistics have not changed significantly over the past decades. Our investments have brought us to the point where we have the knowledge, technology and tools to make a real difference. It is time to leverage those investments. It's time to end breast cancer.

The National Breast Cancer Coalition has set a deadline: Breast Cancer Deadline 2020, the end of breast cancer by January 1, 2020. In 1961, President Kennedy challenged this country to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, and the Apollo program was born. Deadlines matter! Now we need to similarly harness our nation's drive, ability and passion to save millions of lives.

We need our nation's leaders to face the reality around breast cancer and call for a new approach and a firm deadline. With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when the nation is vertually covered in pink, now is the time for action.

That's why, with the facts in hand, NBCC advocates are embarking on a national petition drive asking President Obama to take a leadership role in support of Breast Cancer Deadline 2020. We must make this deadline a priority for our nation. And the worldwide breast cancer movement. We all have a role to play in ending breast cancer,and all of our elected officials need to perform theirs.

So today, we're asking you to tell the President to support Breast Cancer Deadline 2020 and show his commitment to ending breast cancer by January 1, 2020.