Dr. Carolyn Runowicz Will Attend Bill Signing Friday at the White House

President Bush Will Sign Reauthorization of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program 

FARMINGTON, CONN. – Carolyn D. Runowicz, M.D., director of the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center will be at the White House on Friday, April 20, when President George W. Bush signs a bill authorizing funding for far-reaching programs to detect breast and cervical cancer.

“It’s both an honor and a privilege for me to be involved with the signing of this important legislation that will help detect and prevent cancer in underserved women in this country,” said Dr. Runowicz, who is a leader with several prominent, national advocacy organizations. She is Chairman of the National Cancer Advisory Board; she was appointed to the board by President Bush in 2004. She is also the Immediate Past President of the American Cancer Society and was the first breast cancer survivor to serve as president of that organization.

The bill, the Reauthorization of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, authorizes five years of funding for free and low cost breast and cervical cancer screenings for low income and uninsured women, and also supports cancer prevention programs. The program has screened more than 2.7 million women since it started in 1991. It is administered by the Centers for Disease Control and is active in all 50 states.

The bill passed both chambers of Congress late last month with widespread, bipartisan support.

“We want all women to have access to today’s best screening and early detection services, as well as new approaches to cancer prevention,” said Dr. Runowicz who co-authored a book devoted to cancer prevention in 2004, The Answer to Cancer. “The old adage about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure is especially true in the war against cancer.”

Cancer prevention is a major focus of the UConn Health Center’s Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, where Richard Everson, M.D., a nationally renowned expert in cancer prevention, recently became the director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program. In addition, UConn has introduced innovative programs to help men and women prevent colon cancer – the second leading cancer killer of American men and women – as well as a woman’s cancer prevention program.

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