Rethinking Pick
Posted 4/29/2012
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I like this article from The Daily Beast about the politics of breast cancer. It is primarily an interview with Fran Visco, the passionate leader of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Here is the beginning and a link:
A Pink Rethink: Breast-Cancer Spending Comes Under the Microscope
The Susan G. Komen flap has put breast cancer in the spotlight, reigniting a key debate in the health community about spending: Is too much money going to mammograms? Abigail Pesta reports.
by Abigail Pesta | April 26, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
When it comes to ending breast cancer, Fran Visco doesn't think pink ribbons and mammograms will get the job done.Visco is president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, a group of hundreds of organizations and thousands of individual activists focused on fighting cancer. Her group, which has successfully lobbied for $2.8 billion in federal funds for research in the past 20 years, has set a goal of ending the disease by January 2020. She thinks the way to do that is through science-specifically, through studying how the cancer develops and metastasizes.
"We get sidetracked by efforts to focus on getting every woman a mammogram. We could screen every woman in the world and we would not have stopped breast cancer," she says. "I am not saying to stop funding for screening; however, we cannot afford to make it a main focus."
Breast cancer is in the spotlight following the recent controversyat the Susan G. Komen foundation, which cut funds to Planned Parenthood amid pressure from Catholic bishops, then restored the funds after a backlash. Donors are questioning where their dollars go. Visco says that can be a good thing-it can spark a rethink.
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