Six in 10 Voters Support Raising Taxes to Fight Bre...( With high African American death rat...),Health

With high African American death rates and disparities in access to care,

more than 90 percent of voters want federal government to focus more

attention on breast cancer issues

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As America marks Martin Luther King Day and reflects on equality for all, a new survey shows that nearly sixty percent of voters are willing to raise taxes to ensure all women have access to quality breast cancer screening and treatment, including 71 percent of registered Democrats and 46 percent of registered Republicans.

The survey was commissioned by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance, the new policy offshoot of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer organization, and conducted by KRC Research.

More than 90 percent of voters want the federal government to pay more attention to breast cancer research, screening and early detection and access to quality care for all. A majority of voters, 62 percent, believe breast cancer is the most critical health problem facing women today. This is also true among low-income, minority and underserved populations surveyed.

Importantly, voters recognize that income level and ethnicity impact access to quality care, with 70 percent of those surveyed saying income level impacts quality of care and half thinking ethnicity affects quality of care. Susan G. Komen for Cure's April 2007 "Breast Cancer Mortality Report" validates voters' assertions: low Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates for breast cancer screening and treatment prevents many women from accessing quality services, and lack of knowledge about prevention, screening and treatment options greatly increases death rates, particularly among African Americans and Hispanics.

"As we honor Dr. King and his work, let's hope presidential candidates recognize what voters already do: it is unconscionable for skin color or income level to dictate the terms
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