Gov. Ron DeSantis and first lady Casey DeSantis are continuing to champion increased state funding for cancer treatment and research.
During a press conference Wednesday, the governor called on the Legislature to allocate $230 million to cancer-centered initiatives championed by his wife. She has championed those initiatives after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 and beating the disease.
Casey DeSantis said when she was diagnosed, she didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. But now, she wants to leverage her position as first lady to fight for better cancer treatment around the state.
“You got to get into the arena. You gotta fight. You can’t be a potted plant on the side watching life pass you by, You got to make a difference. So, with humility, I had the unique opportunity as first lady to start the cancer collaborative,” she said.
She launched Florida Cancer Connect, a resource hub for caregivers and patients, and the Cancer Connect Collaborative last year with a goal of breaking down communication barriers between researchers and private facilities to improve cancer treatment in the state.
The collaborative is a team of medical professionals brought together to analyze and rethink Florida’s approach to combatting cancer. The first lady said that the collaborative helps make sure profit incentives don’t get in the way of developing the best treatment for patients.
“We got to make sure this isn’t about competitive advantages. This is about what we can do to help people survive, help people detect earlier, get better practices with less side effects,” she said.
The collaborative and other cancer research projects received $190 million dollars from the Legislature last year.
The governor briefly appeared alongside his wife Wednesday to call on lawmakers to increase that allocation to over $230 million.
“We know that this is something that is important to so many people throughout our state and throughout our country. With today’s announcement, we are bolstering state-of-the-art research to detect and fight cancer,” he said.
As part of his request, more than $127 million would go to the Florida Cancer Connect research program.
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