Breast cancer awareness month is about reminding those we love about the importance of getting recommended screenings to prevent breast cancer. But it's also a time to remember that unfortunately, mammograms are not accessible and affordable to all women. That's why the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) is so critically important. And it's in jeopardy of being cut. The NBCCEDP is a lifesaving program available in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and several U.S. territories that has provided free early detection tests to thousands of uninsured low-income women for more than 20 years. The number of women this program has helped is incredible it has provided nearly 10.5 million screening exams to 4.2 million women, detecting approximately 52,000 breast cancers and 3,000 invasive cervical cancers. While the numbers are impressive, a story like Anne Klahn's really puts a face to the importance of this program. Anne was on the verge of skipping extra imaging and a biopsy that her radiologist recommended because she knew her health insurance would end before she could get the tests. She reached out to the American Cancer Society, which connected her with the New York State Cancer Services Program (CSP), the administrator of the NBCCEDP for the state of New York. The CSP was able to find funding for Anne's ultrasound, biopsy and MRI, taking care of her financial worries and ultimately saving her life. Watch her brave story featured in a local news segment. So what's threatening the success of this lifesaving program? Cuts to funding are threatening success. If Congress allows looming across-the-board funding cuts to take effect through sequestration, the progress this program has made in helping women fight breast cancer would stall. Overall, sequestration would slash core cancer prevention and public health programs at the CDC by an estimated 8.2 percent. For the NBCCEDP, sequestration would mean 51,000 fewer breast and cervical screenings for women, resulting in fewer cancers detected early. Sequestration isn't the only threat. Any cuts to the NBCCEDP would potentially increase the rates of breast cancer mortality in the U.S. Research suggests that for every 1,000 women screened by the NBCCEDP, there were 0.6 fewer deaths from breast cancer among women aged 40 to 64 years than without screenings. The cuts to the NBCCEDP would come on top of widespread spending reductions at the state level. In fiscal year 2012, nearly half of all states reduced funding or provided no funding for their BCCEDP, limiting access and creating long waiting lists. An estimated 40,000 women in America will lose their battle with breast cancer this year. Congress has a duty to protect the NBCCEDP and make sure women like Anne don't have to skip the screenings they need to save their lives. It is critical that our nation's commitment to cancer research, prevention and programs like the NBCCEDP that are essential to the fight against cancer are protected from these potentially devastating cuts.
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.