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Breast Cancer Screening Efforts Go Nationwide Secretary Shalala Launches Breast Cancer Awareness Month Stressing the importance of routine breast cancer screening for all women, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced the expansion of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program to all 50 states, with $102 million in federal funding for the upcoming year.
Since its first year of operation in 12 states in 1991, this program has provided screening
tests to nearly a million medically underserved women. The announcement came as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month activities were launched
nationwide. "We know that regular mammograms can substantially reduce the chance of death from
breast cancer," said Secretary Shalala. "It is important that we reach every
American woman with this message. And it is especially important that we reach racial and
ethnic minority women throughout our country, because breast cancer mortality among these
women is disproportionately high." The Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, operated by the CDC, serves low income and minority women, older women and those who are uninsured or underinsured. Operating in an increasing number of states each year since 1991, it is going nationwide this month with the addition of programs in Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Virginia, Wyoming and Washington D.C., as well as the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of
Palau, Virgin Islands, Hopi Tribe, Native American Rehabilitation Association of the
Northwest, the Navajo Nation, and Indian Community Health Service. From its inception through May 1996, the program provided 457,600 mammograms to women.
Breast cancer was diagnosed in 2,495 of them. In addition, Papanicolaou (Pap) tests have been provided to 612,008 women, and 19,166 were
found to have a precursor of cervical cancer called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN I,
II or III, which can be treated successfully). Almost all deaths from cervical cancer are
preventable through widespread use of Pap testing and timely and appropriate treatment.
Invasive cervical cancer has been diagnosed in 239 women through the CDC program. The CDC program provides outreach screening and education programs through a broad array of facilities, including local health departments, community and migrant health centers, private physician offices, family planning and church sponsored clinics, YWCAs, women's shelters and senior centers. "Public education and outreach have played important roles in the long-term success of
this program," said CDC Director David Satcher, M.D. "CDC and its partners have
successfully reached medically underserved women with screening through a variety of intensive
community-based efforts." Educating consumers and health professionals is the cornerstone of the National Breast
Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) program which enters its second decade of public and
professional educational outreach efforts. Two HHS agencies, the CDC and the National Cancer
Institute, join with 15 other national organizations as co-sponsors of the October National
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of
early detection of breast cancer. This year, National Mammography Day will be celebrated on Friday, October 18. On National Mammography Day, women across America are encouraged to receive or sign up for a screening mammogram or to make a commitment to get one.
Breast cancer research and screening have been high priorities for HHS under Secretary Shalala. In 1993, she convened a conference to develop a National Action Plan on Breast Cancer, and implementation of the plan is being carried out through a public-private partnership led by HHS' Office on Women's Health. Total HHS discretionary funding for breast cancer research and programs has increased from about $90 million in 1990 to an estimated $507 million in FY 1996.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women. Although death rates from breast cancer have been declining in recent years, breast cancer accounts for 31 percent of all cancers among women. Epidemiologic studies estimate that breast cancer will be diagnosed in 1.5 million American women in this decade, and that breast cancer will claim nearly half a million lives.
Death rates from the disease are highest among women aged 40 or older and black women as compared to white women for those aged less than 70 years. With proper screening and treatment, however, the chances of surviving breast cancer are improving. For women age 5069, regular mammograms can reduce the chance of death from breast cancer by one third
or more. Despite these numbers, nearly half of women age 50 and older have not had a mammogram
in the past two years. CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Comprehensive Program AWARDED States and Territories FY 96 Alabama $ 750,000 Alaska $ 1,751,104 Arizona $ 1,100,648 Arkansas $ 1,622,203 California $ 5,950,425 Colorado $ 2,131,985 Connecticut $ 1,400,000 Delaware $ 566,515 Florida $ 2,000,000 Georgia $ 2,516,273 Hawaii $ 750,000 Idaho $ 750,000 Illinois $ 3,050,000 Indiana $ 1,087,484 Iowa $ 1,700,000 Kansas $ 1,500,000 Kentucky $ 1,079,907 Louisiana $ 750,000 Maine $ 1,564,561 Maryland $ 3,705,108 Massachusetts $ 2,597,000 Michigan $ 4,908,000 Minnesota $ 1,488,245 Mississippi $ 750,000 Missouri $ 2,500,000 Montana $ 1,079,907 Northern Mariana Islands $ 200,000 Nebraska $ 1,000,000 Nevada $ 775,344 New Mexico $ 3,475,000 New Jersey $ 2,000,000 New Hampshire $ 1,000,000 New York $ 4,459,537 North Carolina $ 3,400,000 North Dakota $ 733,456 Ohio $ 4,088,387 Oklahoma $ 1,000,000 Oregon $ 2,250,847 Pennsylvania $ 2,010,000 Republic of Palau $ 227,145 Rhode Island $ 994,064 South Carolina $ 2,500,000 South Dakota $ 750,000 Tennessee $ 750,000 Texas $ 4,153,569 Utah $ 1,150,000 Vermont $ 1,052,889 Virgin Islands $ 721,894 Virginia $ 1,000,000 Washington $ 3,250,082 Washington, D.C. $ 500,000 West Virginia $ 2,881,438 Wisconsin $ 2,722,000 Wyoming $ 750,000 Subtotal States and Territories: $98,845,017 American Indian/Alaska Native Organizations Arctic Slope Native Association $ 300,000 Cherokee Nation $ 244,626 Cheyenne River Sioux $ 182,310 Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians $ 287,225 Hopi Tribe $ 282,429 Indian Community Health Service $ 282,429 Maniilaq Association $ 265,900 Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest $ 152,714 The Navajo Nation, Division of Health $ 282,428 Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy $ 175,472 Poarch Band of Creek Indians $ 81,481 South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency $ 283,690 Southcentral Foundation $ 412,430 Subtotal AI/AN Organizations: $ 3,233,134 TOTAL AWARDS: $102,078,151 |
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