May 5, 2007 by Steve Purcell
Lance Armstrong is asking the public to join his foundation’s fight against cancer by signing a petition calling for changes to the US government’s health priorities.
President Bush recently signed a bill to reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program, an initiative that provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings to uninsured and low-income women.
However, current funding will only cover treatment for one in five eligible women. Lance describes this situation as “not good enough”.
In a statement made on behalf of his foundation, Armstrong said, “We know, and the Institute of Medicine confirms, that low-income women are three times more likely to die from breast cancer. Why? This same group is less likely to get screened and more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage cancer. In other words, we could prevent these deaths. In fact, one-third of the 560,000 cancer deaths that occur in the United States each year could be prevented by applying what we already know about prevention, screening and early detection.”
To sign the petition, visit the Lance Armstrong Foundation website at livestrong.org.
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