'You have cancer."
Those are life-changing words for anyone to hear. When my wife heard them for the first time in 1997, we knew our life would likely never be the same. As difficult as it was to hear those words, we were fortunate because our health insurance provided her with access to a mammogram. That screening gave her a fighting chance to beat the disease. But because breast cancer research had not advanced as far as it has today, Mary lost her fight two years later at the age of 44.
Today, many more people are surviving breast and cervical cancer, due in large part to significant gains in the ability to screen for cancer and catch it early. Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in females in the United States, and if caught early the survival rate of this disease is 99 percent. Treatment for breast cancer is also more effective and less expensive if caught in the early stages. If caught at a later stage, once it has spread to the lymph nodes or organs, the survival rate falls to just 25 percent.
Soon after Mary died, the Florida Legislature named the state's breast and cervical cancer early detection program after her. Its purpose is to ensure all women have the opportunity to receive a lifesaving screening. I am proud the Mary Brogan program continues to play a key role Florida's efforts to beat cancer.
The program provides mammograms and Pap smears to medically underserved women between the ages of 50 and 64 whose incomes are below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Since the program first received state money in fiscal year 2013, more than 132,500 women have received screenings and diagnostic services through the program.
The investment the state has made in this important effort over the years has been pivotal, and we are grateful for it. Because of it, thousands of women have had the opportunity to receive lifesaving screenings. These are daughters, sisters and wives, just like my Mary. Since 2013, the program has detected 1,300 invasive breast and cervical cancers, as well as precancerous lesions. In order to effectively continue our fight against breast and cervical cancer, Florida needs to adequately fund the Mary Brogan program to ensure that all Florida women can access breast and cervical cancer screening and early detection services.
The fight against breast cancer in Florida and across the country is far from over. The American Cancer Society is estimating 18,170 women in this state will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and 2,910 will lose their battle to this disease. As someone who watched a loved one succumb to this disease, I want to do everything I can to protect others from experiencing that pain. Please join me in supporting the request for at least $2.1 million in state money for the Mary Brogan Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
Frank Brogan served as Florida lieutenant governor between 1999 and 2003 and now is chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. He wrote this exclusively for the Tampa Bay Times.