House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

I will soon introduce a House Resolution designating May 17, 2017 as “DIPG Awareness Day” in Pennsylvania. DIPG, or “diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma” is the second most common malignant brain tumor in children, and by far the deadliest. The rate of incidence of DIPG is a stubbornly consistent 200 to 400 cases per year in the United States, and the median survival time post-diagnosis is 9 months. The 5-year survival rate is less than 1 percent.

I would like to honor these children who are fighting and those we have lost to this always fatal diagnosis. I respectfully ask you to join me in honoring these Heroes and Angels by sponsoring this resolution to create awareness of DIPG. As you may know, funding for pediatric cancer represents less than 4 percent of the National Cancer Institute budget. This is NOT acceptable; we simply need to do better.

My resolution will designate May 17, 2017, as “DIPG Awareness Day” in Pennsylvania. My hope is that this resolution encourages all Pennsylvanians to become more informed about DIPG and other pediatric cancers and the challenges we face in finding sufficient resources to fight them. The resolution will also urge all Pennsylvania residents to express their support for expanded funding for pediatric cancer research. We owe these children and their families a chance at life.

Please join me and support this resolution.