Copyright 1999 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.
Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony
March 16, 1999, Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 767 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY March 16, 1999 SHERROD BROWN HOUSE COMMERCE HEALTH
AND ENVIRONMENT RAISING AWARENESS OF CERVICAL CANCER
BODY:
Statement of U.S. Congressman Sherrod Brown
(D-OH) Ranking Member, Commerce Subcommittee on Health and Environment Women's
Health: Raising Awareness of Cervical Cancer Tuesday, March 16, 1999 Mr.
Chairman, thank you for arranging today's hearing. I'd also like to thank Mr.
Mack, Ms. Eshoo, and our other distinguished panelists for joining us today.
While I'm pleased the subcommittee will hear from a wide range of witnesses, I
am disappointed that it was not possible to include a representative from the
College of American Pathologists. This organization, which represents some
16,000 physicians, offers a unique perspective on the detection, diagnosis and
treatment of cervical cancer. Their input would have been extremely valuable.
The tragedy of cervical cancer is two-fold. It is tragic that each year,
hundreds of thousands of women confront cervical cancer, a profoundly
debilitating and deadly illness. And it is tragic that cervical cancer remains
such a virulent killer when it is within our power to prevent it. Cervical
cancer is a national and international public health issue. It accounts for six
percent of all cancers diagnosed in women in the United States. Each year, it
takes nearly 5,000 lives. In my home state of Ohio, over 200 deaths each year
are attributable to cervical cancer. Worldwide, more than 470,000 new cases are
diagnosed each year. In both industrialized and non- industrialized nations,
cervical cancer takes its greatest toll on those individuals least able to fight
back -- minority populations and the economically disadvantaged. Cervical cancer
deaths can be virtually eliminated through behavioral changes, early detection,
and timely access to treatment -- all of which hinge on public awareness. Public
awareness fuels change. It can generate the individual and collective actions
necessary to achieve a meaningful reduction in cervical cancer rates. The public
needs to know that safe behaviors and proper screening can reduce cervical
cancer death rates dramatically. We need to get them the facts about screening
test accuracy, new detection methods, and treatment breakthroughs so they can
play an active role in prevention and treatment decisions. And we need to
emphasize the potential inherent in a national commitment to combat this
disease. The public needs to know about initiatives like the CDC's breast and
cervical cancer early detection program, which has reached millions of uninsured
women with free screening tests. Public awareness can help us garner the
resources needed for CDC and its state and local partners to do more than
scratch the surface of this problem. As currently funded, the CDC program can
only reach 15% of uninsured women. We can, and should, do much better than that.
We need to spread the word about initiatives like H.R. 1070, legislation
introduced by Mr. Eshoo and Mr. Lazio, that would ensure proper treatment for
women who are screened under the CDC program and diagnosed with cancer.
Diagnosis is a cruel and fiscally irresponsible exercise when women diagnosed
with cancer have no access to treatment. Finally, we must all become more
sensitive to potential barriers blocking proper cervical cancer screening. Pap
smears have dramatically reduced cervical cancer deaths, and it is critical that
we do everything in our power to ensure their continued availability. In that
context, we must be vigilant in evaluating the adequacy of federal reimbursement
for pap smears. Medicare and Medicaid
reimbursement directly affect access for two populations particularly vulnerable
to cervical cancer -- low income individuals and the elderly. And since private
reimbursement is often based on federal payment rates, our actions indirectly
affect millions of women with employer-sponsored or individual insurance
coverage. It is imperative that federal reimbursement accurately reflect the
true costs of performing and evaluating pap smears. Inadequate data on cervical
cancer incidence rates is one of our greatest obstacles, a problem to which
little attention is paid. We need to direct resources into gathering data
specific to different races and cultures. Our current data lumps different
sub-populations together, potentially masking wide variations in cervical cancer
rates. It is critical to understand these differences in order to target
prevention and treatment initiatives appropriately. Knowledge fuels advocacy,
and in the case of cervical cancer, advocacy can save countless lives. That is
why today's hearing on cervical cancer awareness is so valuable. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
LOAD-DATE: March 18, 1999
