HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	160
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

requestING THE governor TO FUND BREAST CANCER and cervical cancer SCREENING FOR LOW-INCOME WOMEN in Hawaii.

     WHEREAS, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer-related deaths; and

     WHEREAS, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide, and in the United States, about thirteen thousand women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about five thousand die each year; and

WHEREAS, with regular and accurate screening, breast cancer and cervical cancer are highly preventable; and

     WHEREAS, many deaths from breast and cervical cancer will occur disproportionately among women in low-income groups because they are less likely to have access to routine screenings; and

     WHEREAS, many of the breast and cervical cancer deaths among low-income groups could be prevented by making screening services available to all women at risk; and

     WHEREAS, native Hawaiian, Filipino, Micronesian, and other targeted ethnic minority women in Hawaii have higher rates of developing and dying from breast and cervical cancer than the national average; and

     WHEREAS, in 1990, Congress passed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Act, leading to the creation of cancer screening programs in all fifty states; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Breast and Cervical Cancer Program was established in 1993 through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control to provide breast and cervical cancer screening services under the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program; and

     WHEREAS, the federal funding for this program has leveled and is likely to decrease in the future.  Combined with the increased cost of screenings, this will lead to fewer routine screenings for women who truly need assistance; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Governor is requested to establish a program to provide coverage of cancer screening for women fifty to sixty-four years of age who are low-income or have no or insufficient health insurance; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and the Director of Human Services.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer Screening; Low-income Women