Tennessee Department of Health Receives Komen Grants

The State Department of Health’s Tennessee Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program has been awarded five one-year grants totaling $206,950 from Tennessee affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the international organization dedicated to ending breast cancer. Grants have been awarded in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Davidson County, the Tri-Cities area and Tennessee’s Upper Cumberland region to provide breast cancer screening for uninsured women.

“It is so important that all women have these screening tests to detect cancer earlier when it can be most easily treated,” said Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN, Commissioner of Health. “These grants will help provide life-saving services to women who might otherwise go without the tests.”

The grant awards are intended to address the screening and diagnostic needs of women ages 50 through 64 who are uninsured and below a certain income level, based on family size. The state program is particularly interested in screening women who have never been screened for breast cancer or who have not been screened in two or more years, as these women are at greater risk for cancer.

“We are extremely grateful to Komen for its generous support of the state program,” said Mary Jane Dewey, director of the Tennessee Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program.  “Without it, several hundred women in our state could not be served.”

Dewey also said that 100 percent of the Komen money will be used to pay for basic screening and diagnostic tests for women with suspicious findings. There are Komen Affiliates in 62 Tennessee counties. State and federal funds are available to cover services for women in the remaining 33 Tennessee counties.

Each year, about 14,000 women receive services through Tennessee’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program, with only a small number needing further tests or treatment. To learn more about the state program, call 1-877-969-6636 or visit http://health.state.tn.us/BCC/index.htm. Contact your local county health department to schedule an appointment or to get information about eligibility.

The Tennessee Komen Affiliates are part of the 125-member Affiliate network of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting to end breast cancer forever. Local affiliates serve as the face and voice of Komen’s global breast

cancer movement, mobilizing millions of everyday people through activities like the Komen Race for the Cure® Series, the world’s largest and most successful education and fundraising event for breast cancer.

For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the many ways to get involved in Komen’s fight against breast cancer visit www.komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.