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READ MOREPublished on April 30, 2019 in Press Release
Patient advocacy leader again declaring its community’s national recognition month as Brain Tumor Awareness ACTION Month
National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), the largest nonprofit dedicated to the brain tumor community in the United States, today announced that it’s recognizing Brain Tumor Awareness Month (BTAM) in 2019 with multiple calls to action as it renews the theme of “Brain Tumor Awareness ACTION Month.”
“With so few treatment options and insufficient improvements in survival and quality of life for patients with all types of brain tumors, NBTS is committed to uniting and mobilizing the brain tumor community to advocate for the change needed to spark investment and innovation in research and healthcare delivery that can help defeat brain tumors,” said David F. Arons, JD, Chief Executive Officer, National Brain Tumor Society. “May, observed nationally each year as Brain Tumor Awareness Month, presents a natural opportunity to not only raise our voices and call for greater support for the brain tumor cause, but to embrace the old adage that ‘actions speak louder than words.’”
During Brain Tumor Awareness ACTION Month 2019, National Brain Tumor Society will offer a menu of activities and opportunities for action that Americans all across the country can take part in to advance the brain tumor cause, including:
Shareable digital “InfoSnaps” to provide key information about brain tumors.
A Twitter conversation that will cover topics and issues of importance to the brain tumor community.
Supporters can spread awareness on Facebook with our #BTAM profile picture frame. Facebook users can update their profile picture by visiting https://www.facebook.com/profilepicframes and searching for our three frames by typing in “Brain Tumor Awareness Month.”
An advocacy campaign to encourage volunteers from the brain tumor community across the country to ask their respective governors to declare May Brain Tumor Awareness Month in their state, in conjunction with the federal designation.
The largest annual fundraiser in the country benefiting the brain tumor community, organized in collaboration with Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, rallies more than 10,000 brain tumor patients, survivors, care partners, and advocates on the streets of our nation’s capital to raise awareness and funds for research.
The largest brain tumor-specific advocacy event in the country – hundreds of volunteer advocates from 37 states will hold more than 200 meetings on Capitol Hill to speak with Congress about policies that will impact the brain tumor community. NBTS is also partnering, again, with the Collaborative Ependymoma Research Network to hold the annual Ependymoma Awareness Day and butterfly release in conjunction with Head to the Hill.
Brain tumor advocates unable to attend Head to the Hill in person will receive “action alerts” for a simultaneous ‘Congressional Action Day’ to echo our voices on the Hill, by calling, tweeting, and/or emailing their members of Congress.
A host of additional community-based fundraising and awareness events will take place across the country, as well as teams participating in NBTS’s Gray Nation Endurance program at the Cape Cod Ragnar Relay, the Colfax Marathon, and Bryce Canyon (UT) 50 Miler. Finally, the Zallie Family chain of 11 Shoprite grocery stores across southern New Jersey and Philadelphia will hold its annual Change Round-Up campaign. This effort, which began in 2016, has raised more than $250,000 for NBTS’s mission.
To follow along with NBTS throughout the month individuals can use the hashtags #BTAM, #BTVoice, and #BTSM and visit http://braintumor.org/btam2019.
Nearly 87,000 Americans will receive a brain tumor diagnosis in 2019, and with only a 35 percent five-year survival rate for primary malignant brain tumors, an estimated 17,000 people will die because of brain cancer this year. Brain tumors are now the leading cause of cancer-related death in children 19-years old and younger, accounting for three out of every 10 cancer deaths. There are no known prevention or early detection methods, few available treatments, and there is no cure.
About National Brain Tumor Society
National Brain Tumor Society invests in, mobilizes, and unites the brain tumor community to discover a cure, deliver effective treatments, and advocate for patients and care partners. We are the largest patient advocacy non-profit solely dedicated to the brain tumor community and a leading thought leader in the neuro-oncology field. Headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, our organization raises funds to invest in accelerating brain tumor treatments, prepare the community to navigate their unique brain tumor experience, and convene stakeholders while changing public policy to improve the lives and survival of brain tumor patients. Visit us at https://braintumor.org.