Early Detection Will Save Lives (Sen. Mike Enzi)

I applaud President Bush for signing the “National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007,

H.R. 1132 is identical to S. 624, which the HELP Committee approved on March 15.  The bill will modify the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), which was established by Congress in 1991.  Administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the NBCCEDP now operates in all 50 States, four U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and 13 American Indian and Alaska Native organizations, and is a successful federal-state partnership that also capitalizes on partnering with local community organizations.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, accounting for nearly one of every three cancers diagnosed in the United States. This year alone, it is estimated that 211,240 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed, and 40,870 lives will be lost to breast cancer.  Cervical cancer disproportionately affects minority and medically underserved women, who experience higher incidence and mortality rates from this cancer.  This year, an estimated 10,370 cases of cervical cancer are expected to be diagnosed, and 3,710 women will die from this disease.