On April 16th, the Legislative Administration Council (CAL) submitted the Fight Against Cancer Bill to the Health Committee. The initiative promoted by the Agreement Against Cancer Network (RACC) was presented to the Legislative by means of popular initiative. On April 25th the Health Committee will receive the bill. The CAL’s decision forces the committee to debate it as part of the Organic Health Code (COS), which has been declared a legislative priority and could be approved in mid-May.

The RACC’s bill proposes an integral approach to cancer through the creation of a National System to Fight Cancer. It articulates the efforts of public, private, community and social entities to design a comprehensive strategy. The bill was introduced at the end of 2017, and its debate was postponed for over 100 days. This prompted RACC to carry out an awareness campaign over the course of the last two months to pressure the CAL into action.

The RACC presented a statement to celebrate the achievement, which is considered a “civic victory”. They highlighted this is the first bill introduced by means of a popular initiative to be debated by the assembly members. They also emphasized that RACC will continue to pursue their advocacy agenda to achieve better health and life conditions for cancer patients and their families. Finally, RACC stated they will continue to participate in the legislative process until the bill is passed, attending the debates in the Health Committee.

The CAL’s decision forces the committee to discuss the bill as part of the Organic Health Code. This means they should discuss the text and find a way to incorporate it. The degree of fidelity to the original wording of the bill will depend on RACC’s negotiations with the committee members. The approval of the COS is one of the National Assembly‘s top priorities.