Cancer is a disease that affects many people. If you don’t have cancer, then you probably know someone who has had it whether it is a family member, a close friend or a coworker. According to the US government, about 1.7 Americans will get cancer in 2018, and about 600,000 of them will die from it. By the year 2026 there will about over 25 million cancer survivors in the US. That is just about 7.6% of the population of the US. Cancer research and support is growing more and more important because more people are going to be living with this disease and surviving it as well.
This makes the American Cancer Society even more important. This organization performs their own research to help people with cancer have better odds of survival. They also have many options for patient support, because having cancer can be quite the isolating experience. They even offer resources for caregivers and family so that they can know how to take care of themselves to offer the best quality of care for their family members who are ill.
The society was founded in 1913 in New York City. Back then, cancer was a serious diagnosis that did not boast many survivors. The doctors and business people who founded this organization wanted to get more organized around cancer, and hoped to inspire more research to cure cancer. It was such a bad diagnosis that doctors would often not even tell their patients they had cancer, and if someone knew they had the disease, they would not tell their family members or friends.
The primary goal at first was to raise awareness about cancer, to inspire doctors to get involved with finding better treatments. Since then the organization has branched out to provide services, research and other resources across the US. Now, we view cancer as a much different situation with a bit more hope, and a lot of that is thanks to this organization. Donating money to the American Cancer Society is always a great idea to help people with this serious disease.