Hormones and Endocrine Disorders

Biography

Biography: Melody L. Fortune

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Public Health Law 101-354 was enacted to reduce breast and cervical cancer morbidity and mortality rates via education, screening, and adequate timely follow-up. The program has provided breast and cervical cancer screening for hundreds of thousands of women, followed by the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Treatment Act, Public Law 106-354, which provided for treatment services for women diagnosed with malignant or pre-malignant conditions of the breast and/or cervix. Data were analyzed to determine whether women in Mississippi who were screened in the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program have been positively impacted by the enactment of this legislation by detecting breast cancer at an early stage, when it is more successfully treated.
OBJECTIVES: By the end of the session the participant will be able to understand how public health policies via Public Laws 101-354 and 106-354 impacted women in Mississippi. Participants will also gain better insight as to whether those two laws reduced late stage breast cancer rates for women in Mississippi.
DATA ANALYSIS: Secondary data for this study were obtained from the BCCP database for women screened over a ten year interval. The Breast and Cervical Cancer Program data were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of a public health policy that was implemented to influence breast and cervical cancer outcomes by providing a health care coverage for medically underserved women.
RESULTS: Findings from this study demonstrated that more women were diagnosed with breast cancer as a result of increased screenings. But, women in the BCCP continued to be diagnosed at later stages of breast cancer diseases.