In a ceremony today at the White House, President Bush signed into law a bill authored by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program (NBCCEDP) which provides breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women – and give 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 over the next five years, allowing it to serve hundreds of thousands more women nationwide.
Baldwin introduced the bill in the House with Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) while a companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Mikulski (D-MD) and Hutchison (R-TX).
“In the war against breast and cervical cancer, we know that screening and early detection save lives. I am very proud and pleased that, on this issue, Republicans and Democrats worked together to support a lifesaving program,” said Congresswoman Baldwin who attended the signing ceremony today.
Established in 1991 and administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the NBCCEDP operates in all 50 states, 4 U.S. Territories, the District of Columbia, and 13 Native American organizations. The program provides states with funding in the form of grants.
In Wisconsin, the WI Well Woman Program distributes the federal funds that have served more than 40,000 women since 1994. Screening under the program is available in all 72 counties and 11 tribes. Covered services are available from participating health care providers at no cost to Well Woman clients.
The legislation was supported by a broad coalition of Wisconsin medical service providers and patient advocacy groups, including former WI First Lady Sue Ann Thompson who was a driving force behind the Wisconsin Well Woman Program and founder of the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation, Dean Health System, Meriter Health, UW-Health, Wildwood Family Practice Clinic, Access Community Health Centers, the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation.
To date, the program has provided nearly 6.5 million screening tests to 2.7 million women, detecting more than 26,000 breast cancers, 1,700 cervical cancers and 88,000 pre-cancerous cervical lesions. However, the program’s limited funding allows it to serve only 1 out of every 5 eligible women nationwide.
The number of breast cancer deaths has declined in recent years, thanks, in part to earlier detection. However, only 28.9 percent of uninsured women 40 and over have had a mammogram in the last year. 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 the disease. An estimated 11,150 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year and another 3,670 will die from it.
A copy of the President’s remarks and video of the White House ceremony can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070420.html#
