Gynecologic Cancer Education And Awareness Act of 2005
GYNECOLOGIC CANCER EDUCATION AND AWARENESS ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - December 08, 2006)
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Ms. DELAURO. Mr. Speaker, let me thank again everyone who has made this legislation such a priority in the Congress--Congressmen ISSA and LEVIN for their leadership, as well as everyone outside this institution, particularly Sheryl Silver--she is an inspiration. I have always said that when it comes to life and death issues like cancer, Congress speaks with one voice. And today, it does.
For me, passage of Johanna's Law is one big battle in a fight I, myself, have waged for 20 years. Indeed, 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer during an unrelated doctor's visit. I was fortunate to have excellent doctors who detected the cancer by accident in Stage 1, and I underwent radiation treatment for the next two and a half months. Like many survivors, the experience still haunts me today--hardly a day goes by that I do not think about those weeks, the most difficult of my life. But I am proud to say that I have now been cancer-free for a full two decades.
And so you can understand when I say I take great pride in this victory against cancer today. Great pride--because making sure no woman has to depend on luck when it comes to cancer is personal. Moments like these are why I came to Congress.
And this step is so critical. Almost 21,000 women are diagnosed every year with ovarian cancer; nearly 16,000 will die. With a 45-percent 5-year survival rate, it claims the lives of nearly three-quarters of women diagnosed simply because the disease is not detected until it is too late.
The tragedy is that ovarian cancer, like other gynecologic cancers, can be cured if it is detected soon enough. When ovarian cancer is detected in the early stages, 94 percent of women survive longer than 5 years, and most are cured completely. Unfortunately, women have never had a reliable and accurate method of screening for ovarian cancer in the early stages. On top of that, many doctors misdiagnose this disease, with 85 percent of women reporting they do not know which symptoms to look for.
For all our progress--through research at the NIH, at the Department of Defense, and with the recent approval of the HPV vaccine--Johanna's Law recognizes that one of the most effective weapons we have to beat gynecologic cancers like ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancer is public education. In creating a federal campaign to educate women and health care providers alike, as this legislation does, we can take a bold step toward ensuring women know which symptoms to look for and how to seek help before it is too late.
This legislation represents only a first step. But this is a fight every woman has a stake in--a fight the Silver family has dedicated itself to making sure we win. And so I urge my colleagues to help us pass this bill and take such an important step forward. It is, indeed, an idea whose time has come.
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