Yet another reason to support Clinton. I lost my aunt to complications of breast cancer, and one of my first cousin's (my aun't daughter) is a survivor of breast cancer. This IS a critical issue, another one on which Clinton has been at the forefront for years. Below is part of her press release:
4/7/2008 - Press Release
Clinton Unveils Plan To Find Cure For Breast Cancer On The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Plan Includes $300 Million in Increased Funding For Research Annually And Increased Access To Treatment And Screening Services
Hillary Clinton appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today and announced her plan to find a cure for breast cancer within our lifetime. Hillary's plan would provide $300 million a year in increased funding for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.
In addition to funding research for new treatments, these investments will also go to investigate the cause of breast cancer, including the role that environmental pollutants may have, as well as, potential genetic and hereditary links. The plan would also improve access to screenings and treatment by making mammograms more affordable and providing funding for treatment for low-income women. Under Hillary's American Health Choices Plan, all women will have affordable, quality health insurance regardless of employment, marital status, or pre-existing conditions so they get the care and treatment they need.
"I know your mom is a survivor, and we've lost my incredible mother-in-law to breast cancer during Bill's first term and first year in office, and I've just been really committed. I've had so many friends, and we all know people who survived and people who haven't. And I just think we should set a goal of curing breast cancer within the next decade," said Clinton on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "We should make it absolutely totally curable, and I also really want to try to figure out what causes it, because we just don't know why some people are susceptible. I think it's probably a combination of your genes and your environment and your behavior, but we don't know quite how all that fits together and we haven't done enough research, and we also have to get to universal healthcare, which means quality, affordable healthcare for everyone."
The plan would also improve access to screenings and treatment. Hillary's plan will eliminate Medicare co-pays for mammograms to make them more affordable for 22 million women and guarantee breast and cervical cancer treatment to every low-Income Woman in America. She will also establish a new Racial Disparities Research Project to coordinate and disseminate cutting edge research on the impact of breast cancer among African-American and Hispanic women and guide the federal research agenda towards closing these gaps in outcomes. In addition, Hillary will create a Young Women's Breast Cancer Research and Outreach Unit to help educate young women about the risks of breast cancer, develop more effective screening tools and treatments, and to help research and respond to the unique emotional needs facing young women with breast cancer.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers facing women in America. In 2008, an estimated 180,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women, as well as an estimated 60,000 additional cases of in situ breast cancer, for a total of 240,000 new cases. In 2007, approximately 40,460 women died from breast cancer. Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women. Millions more are impacted as family members and friends of women who are battling breast cancer.
Hillary Clinton has a long history of working to address breast cancer. As First Lady, Hillary worked to make breast cancer a national priority by helping to direct the creation of a public-private partnership called the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer (NAPBC). Throughout the Clinton Administration, the NAPBC served as a catalyst for national efforts to advance breast cancer knowledge, research, policy, and services. Hillary was also a strong voice for more investment in cancer research, advocating successfully for a significant increase in federal funding for breast cancer research. By the end of President Clinton's term, federal funding for breast cancer had been increased to over $600 million. She also supported a new 45 cent first class stamp, the Breast Cancer Stamp, which provides revenue to support breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Department. She conducted listening sessions with older women to better understand why some women weren't getting mammograms, taped public service announcements, and ultimately launched a Medicare Mammography Campaign to ensure that more women took advantage of this essential diagnostic tool. She also pushed for the successful enactment of the Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program, which provides screening and treatment to low-income women - those with limited, if any, options for obtaining quality care. This life-saving program is serving 34,000 women each year. And she pushed for the enactment of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, which allows women to stay in the hospital at least 48 hours following a mastectomy.
As Senator, Hillary Clinton co-sponsored the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, which gives the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant-making authority to develop research centers that examine potential environmental causes of breast cancer. She also brought the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to Adelphi University in June 2001 for a field hearing on the possible links between environmental contamination and cancer, especially high-incidence breast cancer "clusters" like the one on Long Island.
In May 2005, Senator Clinton was inducted into the National Breast Cancer Coalition's Congressional Hall of Fame for her work increasing breast cancer awareness and research funding...
The Challenge
Tragically, breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. In 2008, an estimated 180,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women, as well as an estimated 60,000 additional cases of in situ breast cancer, for a total of 240,000 new cases. In 2007, approximately 40,460 women died from breast cancer. Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women. Millions more are impacted as family members and friends of women who are battling breast cancer.
A woman living in the U.S. has a one in eight lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, up from one in 11 in the 1970s. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women. African American women have a higher incidence rate than white women before age 40 and are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women ages 15 to 54. About one percent of all breast cancer occurs in men.
* There is much more to this press release, including her actual indepth plan, at: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=6951 Please go check it out!
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