What causes breast cancer? Is it the dioxins found in some drinking water? Or is it the bleach used to make tampons white? Nobody knows what causes breast cancer. Nobody can tell us what to do to prevent it.
What we do know is that some geographic places have higher incidents of breast cancer. Studies strongly suggest that exposure to certain chemicals and synthetic compounds contributes to the development of the disease. And -- above all -- we know that we simply don't know enough about a disease that will take the lives of more than 40,000 U.S. women this year and some 500,000 women worldwide in the year 2000.
NOW is proud to join forces with the Breast Cancer Fund, members of Congress and other organizations in calling for increased funding for research into the causes of breast cancer, including environmental factors. We urge the president, Congress, all candidates, and voters to make prevention of breast cancer a national health priority and an issue in the 2000 elections.
Political action is the greatest tribute we can make to all of the women who have battled breast cancer -- both those who have survived and those who have succumbed. We must make three demands of every candidate: First, we demand that research on the causes and prevention of breast cancer be fully funded. If Congress can figure out how to increase the Pentagon's budget, surely they can find the money to fight -- and win -- the war on breast cancer.
Second, we demand that every woman should have access to breast cancer screening and treatment -- regardless of income or age. Early detection of breast cancer is critical to survival -- and too many women are dying just because they cannot afford adequate health care.
Finally, we demand that the environmental links to breast cancer must be researched. We are poisoning the earth, and women are dying because of it. Politicians must look past the bags of money the corporate lobbyists carry and look into the eyes of women with breast cancer. If they do that, they will make good policy and do what is necessary to stop this disease.
This year, let's celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month by making a national commitment to broadening the focus of research to include identifying the causes of this too often deadly disease. Yes, we want a cure for breast cancer. But we also want to know how to prevent it -- how to spare our mothers, sisters and daughters from the devastation of breast cancer.
Environmentalists and feminists alike share a common interest in research on the impact of environmental degradation on women's health. This concern is reflected in the many women's rights activists who identify themselves as eco-feminists and the many environmental activists who are strong women's rights supporters. Now, we must challenge the scientific research community and policymakers to look for answers to the questions that plague every woman who has ever felt a lump in her breast: Why does this happen? How can we prevent it? And how can we cure it?
It is too late to answer those questions for all of the women who have fallen victim to breast cancer. But we must do everything we can to offer hope to those who struggle with the disease today, and we must find the answers that will stop the breast cancer epidemic.
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