Susan G. Komen Committed to Lift Off of Cancer Moonshot

One of the greatest frustrations for cancer organizations like mine is knowing that many people are dying of cancer who shouldn’t be.

These are people whose futures might have been more hopeful if they’d had access to quality cancer care — the same kind of care that people with money and good insurance can access.

Health care access is a crucial priority for Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, and one I was delighted to explore with the Vice President at his Cancer Moonshot Summit yesterday.

As the world’s largest breast cancer organization, Komen has funded more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit (almost $1 billion to date) — and our commitment to research is unquestioned. But for almost all of our 35 years, we’ve also understood that all the research in the world won’t help those who can’t access the health care system for financial or other reasons. This is why we’ve also invested $1.95 billion in programs for low-income, uninsured and medically vulnerable women, through our national programs and through our Affiliate Network in more than 100 cities.

We’re committing to doing more in years to come, through a Health Equity initiative aimed at reducing cancer deaths by ensuring access to quality care.

This is personal on many levels, primarily because I see the impact of health inequity on uninsured, under-insured or low-income people almost every day.

We see women arriving at our screening programs with advanced forms of breast cancer. They are frightened. They worry about losing their jobs if they take time off for a mammogram…or burdening their families. Far too many hold off going to the doctor until the lump becomes too large and painful to ignore. In some cases — women arrive for treatment with tumors breaking through their skin. Yes. Here. In America.

We see this all too often, and it frankly makes me angry, because we know, and science has shown, that if women have access to early treatment, they would have a better chance of living long and productive lives.

The impact of health inequity is especially dire in women of color. Breast cancer death rates in African-American women, for example, average 40 percent higher than those of white women in the United States. Many of these deaths are preventable. So we’ve set a goal to significantly reduce these death rates in communities of color, starting in 10 cities across the U.S. where the disparities gap is greatest.

I was grateful to have the opportunity to share my sense of urgency about disparities in breast cancer mortality with Vice-President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden. They understand that improving access to care will save lives. We are ready to share our vision and programs with partners in the Moonshot Initiative.

Together, we can make the outlook — and outcomes — much brighter for millions.