U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) recently sponsored a bipartisan bill that calls for a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on the prevalence and mortality of cancer among individuals who served as active duty aircrew in the U.S. Armed Forces.
“As a former fighter pilot, I know first-hand the risks that airmen and women take every day when they step into the cockpit,” Rep. Pfluger said on Jan. 21. “After putting their lives on the line in the line of duty for their country, airmen and women deserve assurances that their health will be properly taken care of.”
The Aviator Cancers Examination Study (ACES) Act, H.R. 530, has 13 original cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and David Valadao (R-CA), and would require a study to identify exposures associated with military occupations of covered individuals, who would include a pilot, navigator, weapons systems operator, aircraft system operator, or any other crew member who regularly flew in a fixed-wing aircraft in any branch of the United States military.
“The bipartisan ACES Act will ensure that the VA takes necessary steps to completely understand any links between aviation and cancer incidences to properly care for and treat our service members,” said Rep. Pfluger.
The study also would review the literature to determine associations between exposures and the incidence or prevalence of overall cancer morbidity and mortality, as well as for brain cancer, colon and rectal cancers, kidney cancer, lung cancer, and melanoma, among several other types of cancer, according to the bill’s text.
At the conclusion of the study, the National Academies would submit the results to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary and to the Veterans’ Affairs Committees in both chambers of Congress.
“This study is essential to equipping our military and veteran healthcare providers with the critical knowledge they need to deliver the top-tier care our aviators and aircrew so rightly deserve for their service to our nation,” said Rep. Panetta.
H.R. 530 has garnered support from the Red River Valley Association, With Honor Action, the HunterSeven Foundation, the MACH Coalition, the Fleet Reserve Association, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Veteran Prostate Cancer Awareness Inc.