2025 -- S 0994

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LC002789

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING MAY OF 2025, AS "NATIONAL SKIN CANCER AWARENESS

MONTH" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senator Melissa A. Murray

     Date Introduced: April 28, 2025

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and worldwide,

with an estimated 3.3 million people and 5.4 million cases being diagnosed in the United States

annually, which represents nearly 9,500 every day, and sadly, more than two people die of the

disease every hour; and

     WHEREAS, More people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year in the United States

than all other cancers combined. At least one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their

lifetime. Actinic Keratosis is the most common type of skin pre-cancer, affecting more than 58

million Americans. The annual cost of treating skin cancers in the United States is estimated at

more than eight billion dollars; and

     WHEREAS, Skin cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer. Approximately

90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers and 86 percent of melanoma cases are associated with

exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun; and

     WHEREAS, When detected early, the five-year survival rate for melanoma is 99 percent.

Advocacy, increased awareness, promoting ultraviolet light protection, and skin cancer screening

will result in a meaningful reduction in the burden of skin cancer; and

     WHEREAS, Members of the Partnership to Reduce Cancer in Rhode Island, physicians

at Brown Dermatology, the Rhode Island Department of Health’s Comprehensive Cancer Control

Program, and Brown University Health are diligently working cooperatively to accomplish

statewide Skin Cancer Prevention; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates May

of 2025, as "National Skin Cancer Awareness Month" in the State of Rhode Island; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Partnership to Reduce Cancer in Rhode

Island, Brown Dermatology, the Rhode Island Department of Health’s Comprehensive Cancer

Control Program, and the Brown University Health.

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LC002789

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