THE EFFORT to get all the forces working on breast cancer to march forward in some coordinated manner has begun. Donna E. Shalala, PhD, director of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), says such concerted effort is necessary to make sure that all the efforts currently devoted to breast cancer—research, treatment, prevention, education, and access—are on track.
Shalala spoke at a day-long breast cancer planning conference held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Md, at which the planners were charged with identifying priorities in fighting the disease. The HHS called on a broad spectrum of individuals, including scientists, health care providers, representatives from private industry, and consumer groups, to pull together what Shalala calls "an action plan on breast cancer."
The attempt to coordinate efforts to deal definitively with breast cancer has its roots in the burgeoning interest in women's health, which was addressed in the