Upstate women lobby lawmakers to increase funding

Two Upstate women representing the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Upstate South Carolina Affiliate met with the offices of six U.S. representatives and two U.S. senators on Wednesday, lobbying for increased funding and support for cancer treatment, nursing reinvestments and translational research.

Betty Wells, a breast cancer survivor and Spartanburg resident, traveled with Mary Lynn Faunda Donovan, executive director for the Komen Foundation Upstate Affiliate, to attend the yearly Komen Lobby Day event in Washington.

“We were asking for more money for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program,” Wells said via telephone. “We asked for $250 million nationally.”

Last year, the detection program, which aims to help low-income and uninsured women, received $204 million, Wells said.

“We’re only serving 20 percent of the women that qualify in South Carolina,” Wells said. “If they give us $250 million on a national level, we can serve up to 25 percent.

On Tuesday, the Oncology Nurses Society and the Komen Foundation held a Congressional briefing luncheon to elaborate on the Nurse Reinvestment Act programs.

Senate and House members were invited to hear a variety of speakers discuss the need for more nurses. Wells was the fourth person to speak.

Although the program applies to nurses of all professions, the Komen Foundation and ONS placed emphasis on oncology nurses.

Continuous support also was requested for translational research to ensure that scientific discoveries made in the lab make it to cancer patients in need.

“It’s going from ‘bench to bedside,’ ” Wells said. “That has been supported by Congress for awhile. We’re just asking them to continue to support that and show that as a priority for South Carolina.”

Wells said she was convinced that the trip was a success.

“Our voice was heard,” she said.

Jessica L. De Vault can be reached at 562-7216 or Jessica.devault@shj.com.