The Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act would reauthorize the CDC’s lifesaving National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) program, preserving access to vital public health infrastructure that provides breast and cervical cancer screening for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women.

Early detection and effective treatment of breast cancer save lives.

• Screening has been proven to be an effective prevention strategy to reduce the morbidity and mortality of several cancers, including breast and cervical cancer. 
• Breast cancer mortality rates have declined steadily since their peak in 1989. The total death rate dropped by 43% from 1989 to 2020, translating to 460,000 fewer breast cancer deaths during that period of time. 
• A population-based case-control study found that mammography screening cuts the risk of dying from breast cancer approximately in half.

The NBCCEDP is a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments and was founded to reduce disparities in morbidity and mortality due to breast and cervical cancer. Individuals who are uninsured and underinsured are more likely to delay or to not receive medical care due to high costs.