NBCC: Breast Cancer Caucus

On January 22, 2008, Fred Thompson withdrew his name as a presidential candidate.

NBCC sent a letter to each Presidential candidate requesting a video response telling us what he or she would do as President to eradicate breast cancer. We also asked for a written response to NBCC's core issues. Below is Fred Thompson's response.

Dear Friends:

I want to thank the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) for the work its team of professionals and supporters does every day to save lives. I appreciate the opportunity to share with you my thoughts and plans on your priorities.

As you can imagine, fighting cancer is an issue of great personal interest given my own diagnosis. But cancer is also a grave concern for all Americans, and breast cancer is a special concern. We all have mothers, sisters, daughters, friends touched by this terrible disease, so finding a cure and improving treatment for breast cancer is a high priority for everyone.

Unfortunately, the United States has the highest incidence of breast cancer among developed nations. Althought the incidence of breast cancer is declining, its effects are still devastating. More than 40,000 women will die from breast cancer this year. Almost a quarter of a million new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2007. NBCC estimates that approximately three million women are living with breast cancer in the United States, with perhaps close to a third of them not even knowing they have the disease.

While these statistics are daunting, we must never make the mistake of looking at them as mere data. Each number represents a real person, with a family and friends, dreams and aspirations.

When I served in the Senate, I was pleased to have participated in the enactment of the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act in 1998 and the Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act in 2000. I also supported substantial increases in research funding for the National Institutes of Health. We all know, however, that more needs to be done to address cancer.

We are fortunate to be living in a nation with the best health care system in the world, but we can still do better by our citizens, especially when more than ten percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer will die within five years. We must respond to this crisis.

I believe that every American should have access to health insurance coverage that is affordable and portable—wherever one lives or works—providing real access to high-quality care that meets each person’s individual needs. I also believe that individual consumers and families—and not government or insurance company bureaucrats—should choose the health care options that best meet their needs. We also must ensure access to new technologies and preventive care. There are ways we can achieve greater affordability, accessibility, and portability without government mandates, and I intend to lay out these options as my campaign moves forward.

While five percent of breast cancer occurs in women under 50, this age cohort has the highest mortality rates from the disease, making it urgent that we expand access to early detection through annual mammograms or other methods of detection for all women beginning at age 35.

Preserving Medicare is especially important. Current rates of growth in Medicare cannot be sustained. We need to preserve Medicare so that my daughter and your daughters and grand-daughters will have access to it if needed. At the same time, Medicare also needs to be modernized to cover health screening and preventive test for diseases like breast cancer.

Finally, we need to continue to support research into the causes of, and treatment for, breast cancer and other diseases. That means adequate funding for the National Institutes of Health, including the National Cancer Institute. It also means adequate funding for the Food and Drug Administration to streamline and expedite the drug-approval process without compromising patient health.

We have made dramatic gains in the fight against cancer. It was not long ago that a cancer diagnosis was a death sentence. Thanks to the work of groups like NBCC, that is no longer the case. Cancer is a treatable disease and often a preventable one. With more work in the coming years, we will make ever further gains so that, in the near future, some of us may be lucky enough to look upon cancer mortality itself as history.

You have my commitment that, as President, I will work to hasten that day.

Sincerely,
Fred Thompson