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"This funding provides health care
resources for women who need help the most," Gov. Ryan said.
"Through these grants, we expect to serve 17,000 women this year who
otherwise might not be able to afford breast and cervical cancer
screening. These routine procedures can substantially improve a
woman’s chances of surviving life-threatening diseases."
The Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer
Program — the IBCCP — began in 1995 in DuPage, Lake and Peoria
counties and was expanded statewide by Gov. Ryan in 1999. This
year’s funding allows IBCCP to fund two additional agencies — ACCESS
Community Health Network in Chicago and Cook County and the Madison
County Health Department — to better serve women in those areas.
There are now 25 local health departments and health care agencies
across the state that work with 900 local health care providers to
deliver the program’s services.
Administered by the Illinois Department
of Public Health, the IBCCP is funded through a combination of state
and federal funds — $2 million from the state and $4.3 million from
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The screening program targets women 35
to 64 years of age and older who have limited incomes and are either
uninsured or underinsured. To be eligible, individuals must have an
income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level: $17,720
a year for a single-person household. Screenings include clinical
breast exams and mammograms (40 to 64 years) and pelvic exams and
Pap smears (35 to 64 years of age).
Women who are diagnosed with breast or
cervical cancer through IBCCP and who meet eligibility requirements
can receive treatment benefits through the Medical Assistance
Program administered by the Illinois Department of Public Aid. Since
the treatment benefits first became available on July 1, 2001, about
250 women have received breast cancer treatment at little or no
cost.
"This program has made it possible for
women who may not have been able to afford care for breast or
cervical cancer to receive not only diagnosis information but also
treatment," said Dr. John R. Lumpkin, state public health director.
One in eight women will be diagnosed
with breast cancer during her lifetime, and more than 2,000 women in
Illinois are expected to die this year from breast cancer. In
addition, an average of 700 women a year in Illinois learn they have
invasive cervical cancer, and 230 die annually from the disease.
It is recommended that all women
perform a monthly breast self-examination and receive an annual
clinical breast examination; women 40 years of age and older also
should have a yearly mammogram.
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Women should check with their primary
care provider about how frequently they should receive a Pap smear.
Recommendations are based on clinical findings, history of risk
factors and appropriate standards of care.
For information about obtaining a free
screening through the program, individuals should contact the
Illinois Department of Public Health at (888) 522-1282 for voice
callers or (217) 557-3326 by fax.
Below is a list of agencies receiving
the grants.
IBCCP
screening grant awards
ACCESS Community Health Network,
$148,000
Adams County Health Department,
$148,000
Champaign-Urbana Public Health
District, $277,500
Chicago Department of Public Health,
$740,000
Cook County Department of Public
Health, $296,000
DuPage County Health Department,
$259,000
Fulton County Health Department,
$138,750
Kankakee County Health Department,
$222,000
Knox County Health Department, $101,750
Lake County Health Department, $370,000
LaSalle County Health Department,
$148,000
Livingston County Health Department,
$83,250
Logan County Health Department,
$370,000
Madison County Health Department,
$185,000
Montgomery County Health Department,
$240,500
Peoria City/County Health Department,
$203,500
Rock Island County Health Department,
$305,250
Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospital (Mattoon),
$212,750
Southern Seven Health Department,
$120,250
St. Clair County Health Department,
$222,000
St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Inc.
(Centralia and Mount Vernon), $629,000
Stephenson County Health Department,
$222,000
Tazewell County Health Department,
$111,000
Visiting Nurse Association of Fox
Valley (Aurora), $222,000
Winnebago County Health Department,
$305,250
Total:
$6,280,750
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release]
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