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del.icio.usFunding for cancer screening falls short
BY KAREN SHIDELER
The Wichita Eagle
A state program that provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings for women is out of money, delaying nearly all new cancer testing until at least July 1.
Only those who already have symptoms of breast or cervical cancer will be eligible for help until more federal funding for the Early Detection Works program becomes available.
About 5,800 Kansas women have been screened since last July 1. That's 1,400 fewer than were screened two years ago.
Most of the program's $2.3 million in funding comes from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the grant amount hasn't changed in recent years, said Janet Neff, director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The rising cost of mammograms, Pap smears and office visits means fewer women get screened. Two years ago, 7,200 women were screened; Neff estimates that 27,000 are eligible for the program.
Early Detection Works is for women ages 40 to 64 who don't have health insurance and who meet income guidelines. If the annual screening tests indicate a problem, diagnostic testing is done; if cancer is detected, the woman becomes eligible for state-funded treatment.
More than 150 women have had breast biopsies this fiscal year as a result of the screenings, Neff said. A dozen women have been treated for breast cancer; 47 have been treated for cervical cancer.
Neff said the screening program catches cancers early, when they can be easily and successfully treated. More cancers are being diagnosed at early stages now than seven or eight years ago, "which is what we want to do," she said.
Sherry Haworth, who oversees the program in Sedgwick County and south central Kansas, said the program is "worth every penny" because of the high cost of treating cancer, especially when it's caught at later stages. "It's kind of a no-brainer" from a business and a public health standpoint," she said.
Neff said Early Detection Works had to quit screening women in June last year. This year, the screening money ran out in March, though health officials set aside what they hope will be enough to diagnose women who already have cancer symptoms.
She said CDC officials had recommended applying for the same amount of funding for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but she asked for a little more and "I made a pretty good case for getting additional funding."
She won't know until June how much Kansas will get, and she noted that some states have had funding cuts in recent years.
The state has contributed some funding to the program each year, as has the Mid-Kansas Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. That money has been used primarily to help women who don't qualify for the federal funding.
Neff said women who call about the program are being placed on a waiting list and will be screened when money becomes available.
Reach Karen Shideler at 316-268-6674 or kshideler@wichitaeagle.com.
