Early Detection
Help is needed for working uninsured women facing a cancer Diagnosis
(Advocacy)-November 8, 2005- Prevention, Diagnosis, Care and Treatment. Too many uninsured American women with persistent HPV disease go without a complete diagnosis to determine if they have cervical cancer. The NCCC receives numerous phone calls from women and family members that may be in the middle of determining their HPV/cervical cancer status and may not have the funds to continue with their healthcare follow up. The American Red Cross refers these women to the NCCC. Cervical cancer caught early is nearly 100% curable. For the working women that no longer have insurance and are focusing on their families and jobs, they may stop the follow through on their own healthcare. The NCCC does not have the funding to help these women. Help for these women is needed!
At the NCCC we attempt to encourage these women and their family members to make sure to follow through with their healthcare and to contact the CDC early detection program in their state to see if they qualify for help or to contact their State or County Department of Health or to go to their local hospital outreach program or free clinic. We will encourage folks to go to their faith-based Church/Temple for assistance too.
There needs to be a Ryan White Act for women battling persistent HPV, cervical cancer and other gynecologic cancers. The National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC) would like to encourage legislators to fund a program to help these women that are not covered by insurance and do not qualify for the CDC program or state Medicaid programs.
When my wife and I began the NCCC, we [she] immediately recognized the need to help these women who were falling through the holes in our countries pathwork quilt of healthcare. Many years have now gone by and we have seen some enhancements to programs such as the CDC early detection program. However, it is not enough for these women. The time to act on this is NOW! We propose a Gynecologic Cancer fund similar to the Ryan White Fund. Personally I would love to call it the Randi Kaye Fund (Though the name is not that important). What is important is that the women in need are able, with dignity, to be able to get the care they deserve in battling their precancer and cancer fight.
Maybe we can even kick this up a notch and provide a HPV vaccine fund for uninsured working women's children when the HPV vaccine is passed by the FDA!
Please encourage your legislator to introduce legislation (bipartisan) to help these women in need.
