HHS Secretary Shalala using Cold War 'weapons' in aggressive battle against breast cancer deaths HHS Secretary Shalala using Cold War 'weapons' in aggressive battle against breast cancer deaths Photo by Chris Meyer Donna Shalala, secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, was on the IU Bloomington campus Nov. 7 to deliver the Marvella Bayh Memorial Lecture in Gender Studies. Mammography and annual examinations remain critical tools in early detection of breast cancer, and early detection is still key to survival.
Early detection's often the main difference between becoming a survivor or a statistic.
Once used in spy satellites, high-tech strategies are impacting early diagnosis. To improve the quality of mammographies, the HHS is working with the CIA, NASA and the Department of Defense to retool Cold War image technologies. With mammographies still the most potent defense, Shalala is proud that, beginning Jan. 1, all Medicare-eligible women over 40 will have more assistance paying for these procedures. The new Mammography Quality Standards Act also imposes tougher regulations to ensure that medical facilities, detection equipment and technicians are held to the highest standards. In the past six years, almost 30 percent more American women are getting mammo-grams and the breast cancer death rate has dropped more than 6 percent, the secretary said.