Rob Sand Highlights Plan to Combat Iowa’s Cancer Crisis at Roundtable with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

“It is a personal issue to me. It’s an important issue to me, and I think most Iowans would say that,” Rob Sand said.

DES MOINES, IA – Yesterday, nominee for governor Rob Sand joined the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network for a roundtable with the organization’s volunteers and cancer survivors. During the discussion, Rob highlighted key priorities from his “A Healthier Iowa for All” plan, including radon mitigation, expanding access to early cancer screenings, and increasing state funding for cancer research.

As Iowa faces the fastest-growing cancer rates in the country, Rob has spent months traveling the state, listening to patients, survivors, and health care providers to develop a plan to combat Iowa’s cancer crisis head-on. While Rob is focused on expanding access to cancer prevention, treatment, and research, his opponent failed to respond to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network survey and called for banning some of the most promising cancer treatments available and worked as a paid political operative to block Medicaid expansion.

Learn more about the roundtable and Rob’s plan to combat Iowa’s cancer crisis below:

WATCH:

KCRG: Rob Sand meets with cancer survivors and advocates, pledges more pediatric cancer funding

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IPR: Sand meets with survivors and advocates to discuss Iowa’s growing cancer rate

“It is a personal issue to me. It’s an important issue to me, and I think most Iowans would say that,” Sand said.
“We know that the earlier we treat cancers, the far less that it costs the entire healthcare system, and so costs are staying low for everyone involved,” he said.
He also said he would like to make tests for radon, a naturally occurring gas commonly found in Iowa homes that’s linked to cancer, easier to obtain for Iowa homeowners and would like to increase funding for cancer research.
Following Tuesday’s event, Emily Hoffman, a 43-year-old cervical cancer survivor who participated in the roundtable, said she enjoyed talking to Sand about cancer and “just wants to hear [candidates] talk about cancer more.”
“I was impressed that he knew something about every area of cancer issues for Iowans, going from radon in basements and mitigation to Medicaid expansion and also tobacco taxes and things like that,” she said.

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Sand presents ‘distinctions’ with opponent’s positions during cancer forum

Gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand said he would support increasing pediatric cancer research funding, raising taxes on tobacco and nicotine products and ensuring access to cancer-preventing vaccines — but warned advocates Tuesday these actions will require GOP support.
Sand told advocates at the event he believed there were important “distinctions” between him and Lahn when it came to the issue of cancer. The Democratic said his opponent was someone “who wants to ban all future mRNA vaccines,” and who was part of “the campaign on behalf of a dark money group in Montana to try to prevent Medicaid expansion there.”
“I think that Iowans are ready for balance,” Sand told reporters after the event. “… I go back to some of the positions of my opponent. He would ban some of the most promising cancer treatments that are out there today. That is the wrong direction. He cheered on some of the cuts at the federal level to cancer research. That is the wrong direction. Balance and common sense that you get from forcing both parties to work together is a path towards actually addressing real issues with real solutions.”
Sand said he believed it was important to be realistic about what he could deliver. While he said he supported easy access to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which has been linked with significantly lowering instances of cervical cancer especially when a person is vaccinated before age 17, he said it was unlikely the Legislature would want to change a law signed this year restricting minors from receiving the HPV and hepatitis B vaccines without parental consent.