Working for Women Worldwide - Embassy of the United States

president’s 2004 budget for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) provides over $382 million
for cardiovascular and pulmonary disease research and
prevention activities related to women. It also includes
$12 million for the centers’ WISEWOMAN program,
which offers screenings for high blood pressure
and cholesterol, and other health interventions to help
prevent cardiovascular and other chronic diseases in
women.
Estimates are that in 2004 more than 200,000
American women were diagnosed with breast cancer.
Regular screening for breast cancer continues to be the
most effective way to detect this disease early and to
save lives, and mammograms are the best screening
tool available.
Recognizing this, the NIH invested about $700
million in 2004 for breast cancer research; it will spend
more than that in 2005. The CDC devoted over $200
million in 2004, with plans to spend more in 2005, on
an early detection program that promotes mammograms
and helps low-income women afford screenings
for breast and cervical cancer. The Department of
Defense invested approximately $150 million for its
breast cancer research program in 2004. All of this
funding will help lead to better treatments and new
hope for many Americans and their families.
The administration, in the words of Secretary
Thompson, is “working hard to create a future where
women and men are free of the fear of breast cancer. ...
My department is also working to improve the overall
health of women by conducting research in cervical
cancer, osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, and every other
major health issue. We’re also leading the Heart Truth
Campaign. This campaign is designed to increase
women’s awareness about heart disease, the numberone
killer of women, and encourage women to take
their heart health seriously. These, along with our
efforts to fight breast cancer, are all great steps my
department is taking to improve the quality of all
women’s health.”
To lower costs and increase accessibility to health
care for the elderly and disabled, the Bush administration
has provided a new prescription drug benefit
under the nation’s Medicare program. In addition to
prescription drug coverage, the program offers all senior
citizens, a majority of whom are women, the opportunity
to benefit from Medicare drug-discount cards;
poorer Americans, for example, can receive an extra
$600 to help pay the cost of their medicines. President
Bush championed this program to give older
Americans “better choices and more control over their
health care ... more access to comprehensive exams,
disease screenings, and other preventive care, so that
seniors across this land can live better and healthier
lives.”
The administration also has established new taxfree
health savings accounts for individuals and groups
to help them plan and save for unexpected health
expenses. It also has proposed the establishment of
association health plans to allow small businesses to
band together to negotiate more favorable health
insurance rates and coverage. This would especially
benefit the large number of women-owned small businesses
sprouting up across the country.
As with its international initiatives to fight the
scourge of HIV/AIDS, the U.S. government through
the Department of Health and Human Services has
established eight research objectives for the prevention,
treatment, and understanding of HIV/AIDS in girls
and women. The department also conducts a Safe
Mother Initiative, a program that collects data and
conducts research on how to improve maternal health.
Moreover, the Bush administration has secured record
funding levels of $4.6 billion for the Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) nutrition program for lowincome
mothers and their young children.
The Bush administration recognizes, however,
that good health for women, and for all Americans,
demands personal responsibility as much as government
attention. The Healthier U.S. Initiative utilizes
the expertise of federal agencies to inform Americans
of small steps they can take to achieve greater fitness.
Simple steps taken to engage in regular physical activity,
eat a more healthful diet, get preventive screenings,
and avoid risky behaviors can greatly reduce the risk
and burden of the chronic diseases and conditions that
affect many Americans.
Economic Opportunity
Women are making a significant contribution to
the health and well-being of Americans today.
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao explains why: “Many
women today work in the home, raising the families
who are the future of our country. Women today comprise
more than half of all workers in management,
professional, and related occupations in the United
States. And women are at the forefront of entrepreneurship,
creating millions of new jobs and building
60