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Tammy Baldwin for Congress Blog
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Expanding Cancer Screening for Women
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Location: Blogs Tammy BaldwinHealth Care |
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| Posted by: Tammy Baldwin |
10/15/2007 9:50 AM |
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For me, this is a time to remember the survivors among us, as well as those we’ve lost. It’s also a time to renew our commitment to prevent, detect, and eliminate breast cancer.
This awareness month took on renewed meaning last week, when my colleague, Rep. Jo Ann Davis(R-Virginia), passed away after a two-year fight with breast cancer.
We continue to lose too many women to this disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that 178,480 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and another 40,460 will die from it. An estimated 11,150 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year and another 3,670 will die from it.
Overall, the number of breast cancer deaths has declined in recent years, at least in part thanks to early detection. However, only 29 percent of uninsured women 40 and over have had a mammogram in the last year.
I authored and helped pass a bill earlier this year to address this health care disparity. In April, I joined fellow coauthors of the bill, Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) and Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), at a White House ceremony for the signing of the bill by the President.
The new law reauthorized the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program, which provides breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women – and gives states greater flexibility to reach more women who are eligible and in need.
The new law also increases funding for the program from $202 million currently, up to $275 million, allowing it to serve hundreds of thousands more women nationwide.
My hope is that by expanding access to these health care programs, fewer of us will lose our mothers, sisters, and daughters to this disease. |
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