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1993.12.14 : National Action Plan for Breast Cancer

Contact: Marc Stern, NIH 
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1993                              (301) 496-2535

When President Clinton accepted the National Breast Cancer
Coalition Petition and Call for Action in October, he promised a
major planning conference in December.

Today at the National Institutes of Health, HHS Secretary Donna E.
Shalala convened a conference of individuals from advocacy groups,
government, industry, health care, medical research, academia, and
foundations to establish a National Action Plan on Breast Cancer.

"We need to be taking immediate and effective action, and we need
to work together to pool our resources and knowledge to defeat
breast cancer," she said.  "This is the first time people from so
many different disciplines will share their perspectives to set a
national agenda on breast cancer."

Conference goals include identifying issues of national priority
and developing an immediate action agenda.

"Our purpose is not to produce an elaborate scheme or a lengthy
document," she said.  "We want to get to the point quickly, to
identify what we know and what we need to know.  Much is already
underway in many different quarters.  What is needed now is an
action agenda that can help coordinate and focus our energies
immediately."

Participants included experts and leaders in prevention,
screening, research and treatment.  Attendees were to take part in
breakout sessions focusing on 10 areas, to develop recommendations
for the final Action Plan:

Education of health care providers;
Education of consumers; 
Education of the scientific community; 
Access to and delivery of health care for breast cancer; 
Basic research; 
Applied research; 
Epidemiology research; 
Translation of research into practice; 
Information dissemination and coordination; and
Health care policy and regulation.

Secretary Shalala was chair of the conference.  Sen. Barbara
Mikulski and Rep. Louise Slaughter were scheduled to be among the
welcoming speakers as the conference opened.

Other participants included Fran Visco, president of the Breast
Cancer Coalition; Nancy Brinker, chair of the President's Cancer
Panel Special Commission on Breast Cancer; and Zora Brown,
president of the Breast Cancer Resource Committee.

NIH Director Harold Varmus, M.D., was scheduled to deliver the
keynote address.  Other participants came from throughout the
federal government and the private sector.