CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

New Hampshire breast cancer advocates learn and lobby in Washington, DC

Portsmouth Herald - 5/13/2018

LEE - Three New Hampshire breast cancer advocates recently attended the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Annual Advocate Leadership Summit in Washington, DC. Nancy Ryan, President of the New Hampshire Breast Cancer Coalition (NHBCC), Jackie Staiti, NHBCC Board Member, and Jennie Halstead, Executive Director of My Breast Cancer Support, represented New Hampshire at the Summit.

The meeting, held from April 28 to May 1, included workshops, plenary lectures and strategic planning for ending breast cancer followed by a day on Capitol Hill meeting with the staff of New Hampshire's members of Congress.

"Breast cancer is not only a medical issue, it is also a political issue," stated Nancy Ryan, a 29-year breast cancer survivor who also serves as New Hampshire's Field Coordinator for NBCC. "NBCC focuses on federal research, public policy and legislation that will bring an end to this disease. New Hampshire's current members of Congress support virtually all of the National Breast Cancer Coalition's 2018 priorities."

Jennie Halstead, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2010, added, "Despite many advances, each year approximately 40,000 women in the US died from breast cancer in the 1970s and, sadly, that number remains the same today. This disease continues to affect everyone."

Leading breast cancer researchers presented their work from the Artemis Project, an NBCC mission driven program focusing on primary prevention of breast cancer and preventing metastasis. The development of a preventive vaccine for breast cancer is advancing rapidly towards the first clinical trial.

On Capitol Hill, advocates lobbied for $150 million to continue the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DoD BCRP) for Fiscal Year 2019 and a bill to waive all waiting periods for Medicare for individuals with metastatic breast cancer who are eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance. "Women and men with metastatic breast cancer should not have to wait for the health care coverage they need and deserve," according to Ryan.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 1,360 women will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer in New Hampshire this year and an estimated 170 New Hampshire women will die of the disease.

The New Hampshire Breast Cancer Coalition is a statewide, all volunteer organization whose mission is to advocate for and provide assistance to New Hampshire residents with breast cancer. Learn more at www.nhbcc.org.

The mission of My Breast Cancer Support is "To provide financial and emotional support to breast cancer patients throughout the Greater Seacoast area of New Hampshire and Southern Maine." Visit www/mybreastcancersupport.org to learn more.

The National Breast Cancer Coalition brings together advocates, scientists, motivated stakeholders, and everyone concerned about breast cancer, united around one goal: ending breast cancer. To get involved, visit www.breastcancerdeadline2020.org.

Nationwide News