HR0398 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0398 LRB095 12088 DRJ 35949 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Over 7,000 women in the State of Illinois are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007; and

WHEREAS, Over 1,700 women in the State of Illinois are expected to die from breast cancer in 2007; and

WHEREAS, In the United States, a woman receives a diagnosis of breast cancer every three minutes, making that disease the most frequently diagnosed of all cancers affecting women; it was expected that, in 2007, approximately 178,000 cases of breast cancer would be diagnosed among women in the United States and that over 40,000 women would succumb to the disease; and

WHEREAS, Without a cure, one in eight women in the United States will continue to be diagnosed with breast cancer; moreover, the next quarter-century will see an estimated 5 million American women and 25 million women worldwide diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than a million American women and some 10 million women worldwide could die; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is home to extremely innovative and effective organizations that fight breast cancer, including Illinois Affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, the STAND Against Cancer Initiative, the Hispanic Breast and Cervical Cancer Initiative, ACCESS Community Health Network, Y-ME Illinois, and the American Cancer Society Illinois Division; and

WHEREAS, Illinois has a special place in the history of breast cancer advocacy, with Peoria being the home of Susan G. Komen and her sister, Nancy Brinker, who founded the world's largest breast cancer organization, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, based on her promise to her dying sister to do everything possible to fight the disease; and

WHEREAS, Early detection of breast cancer is the key to surviving the disease, with survival rates of over 95% when the cancer is caught early while still confined to the breast; and

WHEREAS, Public and private partnerships involving Illinois Affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, the STAND Against Cancer Initiative, the Hispanic Breast and Cervical Cancer Initiative, ACCESS Community Health Network, Y-ME Illinois, and the American Cancer Society Illinois Division are supporting early detection of breast cancer, especially for low-income and uninsured women; and

WHEREAS, Illinois has made a strong commitment to provide breast cancer screening services to low-income and uninsured woman in the State of Illinois within ten years; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois House of Representatives is committed to the goal of providing breast cancer screening services to every low-income and uninsured woman in the State of Illinois and commends those thousands of Illinois breast cancer advocates and survivors who are fighting to achieve this goal.