Millions Given Access to Breast, Cervical Cancer Screening: CDC

Millions of American women have benefited from a breast and cervical cancer screening program offered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new report.

The program was launched in 1991 to serve women with limited access to health care. It has provided screening for more than 4 million women in its first 20 years. During that time, the program identified more than 56,000 breast cancers, approximately 3,200 cervical cancers, and over 152,000 precancerous cervical lesions.

In more than 90 percent of these cases, women received proper and timely follow-up care, according to the CDC report.

The estimated cost of the screening program was $145 per woman.

"Today, millions of women have benefited from the timely screening and diagnostic services offered by CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program," Ursula Bauer, director of the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in an agency news release.

"This program has made tremendous contributions in public health through strengthening partnerships, health care collaborations, and quality of care, but also at a personal level by serving women directly," she added.

The report was published online and in an Aug. 15 supplement edition of the journal Cancer. The report features 13 new studies evaluating numerous features of the screening program.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer screening.