KDHE Urges Kansas Women to be Screened for Breast Cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Topeka, KS - October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) urges Kansans to join the fight against breast cancer. This month, take a look around at the women in your life and encourage them to schedule life-saving breast cancer screenings.

One out of eight women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives. This year alone, nearly 2,000 women in Kansas will develop breast cancer and approximately 380 women will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

Cancer does not need to be a death sentence when discovered early. The good news is that increased awareness, early detection and improved treatment of breast cancer has led to a decline in the death rate by 2.3% per year from 1990 to 2001.

The KDHE Early Detection Works (EDW) Program, administered by the Office of Health Promotion, provides screening services to uninsured and underinsured women in Kansas. Women between the ages of 40 and 64 who meet family income requirements are eligible to receive clinical breast exams and mammograms free of charge.

"KDHE's Early Detection Works Program has served more than 20,000 women since the program's inception in 1995, including more than 5,700 in the past year," said KDHE Secretary Roderick Bremby. "Our goal is to reach a rate of 95 percent for mammograms by continued health promotion and education for all Kansas women."

An estimated 30,000 women in Kansas between age 40 and 64 are without health insurance, or have health insurance with high, unmet deductibles. If breast cancer is diagnosed in uninsured women through the EDW program, they are eligible for treatment under the state's Medicaid plan.

Although screening is recommended beginning at age 40, more than 80 percent of breast cancer occurs in women age 50 and older.

Women have a survival rate of more than 98 percent when diagnosed with a cancer that has not spread to surrounding tissues or other organs, as compared to an 80 percent survival rate if the cancer is invasive and has spread throughout the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

For more information on the Early Detection Works program, call toll-free 1-877-277-1368 or visit www.preventionworkskansas.org.

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