Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program to Expand

WASHINGTON--For the first time since its inception in 1991, fundsfrom the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program willflow to all 50 states in fiscal 1997, the Department of Healthand Human Services announced.

In addition to the 50 states and the District of Columbia, fundsfor the education and screening effort will go to three territories--theNorthern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the VirginIslands--and 13 American Indian and Alaska Native organizations.

The CDC program serves low-income and minority women. From itsbeginning through May 1996, it has provided 457,600 mammogramsto women--2,495 of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer--and612,000 Pap tests, which found cervical intraepithelial neoplasiain 19,166 women and invasive cancer in 239.