National Mammography Day is an important reminder that early breast and cervical cancer detection saves lives. In fact, when breast cancer is caught at the earliest stage, a woman's five-year survival rate is 98 percent compared to just 24 percent if breast cancer is diagnosed after it has spread to other organs. Unfortunately, even the smallest co-pay can deter women from getting lifesaving preventive cancer screenings, making the need to protect access to breast and cervical cancer screenings as important as ever. One way uninsured, underinsured and low-income women access these lifesaving screenings is through the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Established in 1991, this program has provided 11 million screening exams to more than 4.4 million women in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 5 U.S. territories and 11 American Indian/Alaska Native organizations, resulting in the detection of almost 60,000 breast and 3,300 invasive cervical cancers. If diagnosed, women screened through this program have access to treatment services through their state Medicaid programs. However, dwindling state and federal funding for this program means fewer than 1 in 5 eligible women nationwide are receiving these lifesaving cancer screenings. Funding was cut in nearly half of all states in FY 2012 (the last year for which we have complete data). On top of that, in FY 2013, Congress reduced federal funding for the national program by 10 percent compared to 2012 through mindless, across-the-board cuts caused by sequestration. This drastic cut will result in tens of thousands of fewer cancer screenings provided by the program. While the health care law is improving access to health care coverage and early detection services, there are still women that will need to rely on the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, particularly in states that have chosen not to accept federal dollars to increase access to Medicaid coverage. That is why it is critical that ACS CAN and breast cancer advocates continue to educate lawmakers and the general public about the need for this lifesaving program, and fight for restored funding so all eligible women can access it. This is certainly not the time to cut funding to such a successful, lifesaving program, and this Breast Cancer Awareness Month we are making sure that message is heard. **Images courtesy of CDC and Right Action for Women
Even as Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, ACS CAN will keep working year-round, across the country and with both state and federal lawmakers, to advance the public policies we know will reduce the burden of breast cancer.