New law boosts breast, cervical cancer screening

The measure would increase screening program funding by 36%. Supporters want to see more publicity.

By Beth Wilson, AMNews correspondent. May 14, 2007.

Almost 500,000 low-income, uninsured and underinsured women are expected to receive breast and cervical cancer screenings this year through an early-detection program President Bush agreed to extend last month.

The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 authorizes a gradual funding increase from today's $202 million to $275 million by 2012. This would allow an additional 130,000 women to be served, according to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The program covers breast examinations, mammograms, Pap tests, surgical consultations, referrals and diagnostic screening for low-income women not on Medicaid. States also can use Medicaid funds to treat women diagnosed through the initiative.

The effort, which has served almost 3 million women since its inception in the early 1990s, has covered almost 7 million screenings for cervical and breast cancers combined, the latter of which is the most common cancer among women, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Extending the act another five years was both a personal and public victory, said bill co-sponsor Rep. Sue Myrick (R, N.C.), a breast cancer survivor who has been in remission for eight years. "It makes me feel good because it saves lives."

According to the CDC, almost 400,000 women were screened for breast cancer through the program in 2005, and almost 5,000 incidences of cancer were found. About 341,000 women were screened for cervical cancer, and almost 5,000 cervical lesions were found.