Spring Advocacy : By the Numbers

KidneyCAN is thrilled to announce the success of our Spring Advocacy Days event, which took place on March 13th in person in Washington, D.C., and on March 14th virtually. We are grateful for the 186 confirmed meetings with representatives from 42 states, including 75 Senate meetings and 111 House meetings.

Of these meetings, 47 were held in person, while 139 were held virtually. We are proud that 138 attendees advocated on behalf of our community, including 60 patients, 45 caregivers/family/friends, and 33 medical professionals. Additionally, we were especially excited to have 20 Kidney Cancer Research Program awardees in attendance to tell Congress how this funding is impacting their work and the lives of their patients.

Helping Kidney Cancer Advocates Use Their Voices

Prior to the advocacy event, attendees participated in a New Advocate Training session, “Advocacy 101,” which provided an overview of advocacy and how to speak with representatives about kidney cancer research funding. They receive a meeting schedule, talking points, scripts, and leave-behind documents to help make their advocacy experience as easy and effective as possible.

We believe that by increasing funding for research, we can accelerate the development of new treatments and accelerate cures for kidney cancer. Additionally, by ensuring that the patient voice is heard in matters of healthcare legislation, we can work to promote clinical trial development and diversity in enrollment, which will bring us closer to our goal of accelerating cures.

Our Asks

To fill this funding gap, KidneyCAN and other patient advocacy organizations came together to speak with one voice. These asks have been updated since our spring advocacy event.

Our asks of Congress for FY24 are as follows:

• Support a $60 million appropriation for KCRP,
• Support $50.9 billion appropriation for the NIH , including a $9.988 billion appropriation for the NCI,
• Support long-term telehealth legislation to support access to care, and
• Support robust, sustainable funding for medical research and incorporate the patient voice on legislative policy matters, particularly those promoting clinical trial development, diversity in enrollment, and accelerating cures.

Speaking Up to Make a Difference

Participants had many positive things to say about our event! Leah C. from Illinois shared, “I was honored to join such a remarkable group of patients and advocates in Washington DC. KidneyCan has accomplished so much in a short time, and I’m lucky to have the opportunity to advocate and fight alongside this amazing team. Every once in a while, my cancer journey has led me to something beautiful, this program is certainly that.”

Stefan B., an NIH Research Fellow, said, “My experience with the passionate and dedicated KidneyCAN team on Capitol Hill was truly inspiring! The team’s unwavering efforts have already produced significant results, and it was an absolute honor for me to contribute to their advocacy work. I am confident that our continued efforts will have a lasting and meaningful impact for years to come.”

KidneyCAN believes that through advocacy and raising awareness, we can increase funding for kidney cancer research, which can lead to new treatments and cures for our community. We are thrilled with the success of our Spring Advocacy Days and invite anyone interested in joining our mission to subscribe to our newsletter and participate in our future advocacy events.

Together, we can accelerate the development of new treatments and ultimately find cures for kidney cancer.