NVFC-backed Bill to Create Federal Firefighter Cancer Registry Introduced
February 29, 2016
On February 25, U.S. Representatives Richard Hanna (R-NY) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) introduced the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act (H.R. 4625), which would create a national cancer registry for volunteer and career firefighters.
“Cancer is a very serious threat to firefighters, and having this national registry will help us better understand the trends and work towards solutions,” said National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Chairman Kevin D. Quinn. “On behalf of the NVFC I’d like to thank Representatives Pascrell and Hanna for introducing this legislation.”
H.R. 4625 would establish a specialized national cancer registry to be managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The registry would improve collection capabilities and activities related to nationwide monitoring of cancer incidence among all firefighters. The registry would also:
- Store and consolidate epidemiological information submitted by healthcare professionals related to cancer incidence among firefighters.
- Make anonymous data available to public health researchers to provide them with robust and comprehensive datasets to expand groundbreaking research.
- Improve our understanding of cancer incidence as the registry grows, which could potentially lead to the development of advanced safety protocols and safeguards.
- Increase collaboration between the CDC and epidemiologists, public health experts, clinicians, and firefighters through regular and consistent consultations to improve the effectiveness and accuracy of the registry.
The bill is supported by the NVFC, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs, the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and the International Fire Services Training Association.
