At this week’s Broxton City Council meeting, the council signed a proclamation recognizing September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Childhood cancer is an issue that touches every community in the country. Coffee County, however, seems to have had more than its fair share of youth who suffer from this dreaded disease.
The proclamation provides some staggering facts. Consider the following: Cancer is the leading cause of death in the U.S. among children ages 1-14. Cancer also claims an estimated 1,350 lives annually from that same age group. There is a 1 in 285 chance that a child will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20 and over 40,000 kids each year undergo cancer treatments each year. Experts are also expecting over 15,000 new cancer diagnoses in children and youth this year. These are but a few of the troubling statistics related to childhood cancer covered in the proclamation.
The proclamation closes with this statement: “We will strive toward a future in which cancer no longer threatens the lives of our children.” This is but one proclamation naming September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Activities throughout the community are planned to raise both money and awareness of this disease. Let’s all of us do our part to help end childhood cancer here and throughout our state and nation.