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Vol. 03 Issue 4, Fall 1998

National Breast Cancer Coalition's Environmental Policy Summit
The Ribbon 

The National Breast Cancer Coalition's
Environmental Policy Summit

September 23-24, 1998

An Interview with Fran Visco, JD, President

Please provide some background on NBCC and its mission.

FV: The National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) is a grassroots advocacy effort representing over 450 organizations and 60,000 individual members, demanding victory in the war against breast cancer. NBCC has focused national attention on breast cancer, and involves all those concerned as advocates for actions, advances and change. The Coalition informs, supports and directs people in knowledgeable and effective advocacy efforts, and has brought about progress in breast cancer policy.

How does the recent Environmental Policy Summit fit in?

FV: Because our mission is to eradicate breast cancer through action and advocacy, we take a 'whole world' approach, not focusing on one piece, not solely on the environment. But in order to achieve our mission, looking at this important public policy issue is clearly part of a responsive overall strategy. We need answers to the question of what is the link between breast cancer and the environment, and then, how must we address any links? Our concern as an organization is that we don't want this issue addressed in a piecemeal manner; we want to get a broad handle on how to best allocate research money and the best policy approach. When we have the attention of Congress, we want to get that attention focused on the most important aspects of the issue.

Who was involved in the Summit?

FV: This was a diverse group of public policy makers, scientists and activists. After extensive discussion, it was decided that it did not make sense for industry and the media to be included at this point, as we lay the groundwork and identify priority areas.

What were the priority areas identified?

FV: Our purpose was to get participants to think broadly, in public policy terms, and the priority issues identified for further exploration reflect that purpose. The priority issues identified are: examining the issue of weight of evidence in environmental factors; research agenda collaboration; and public health information infrastructure.

What were other outcomes of the Summit?

FV: We accomplished preliminary steps. We looked at areas of disagreement, beginning by extensively discussing what should be included within the realm of "breast cancer and the environment." This includes questions such as "what is a voluntary exposure versus an involuntary exposure?" and "what is an internal risk factor versus an external risk factor?" Many of us have been using the same words in different ways.
We were able to highlight the serious problem of focusing too narrowly, as we have a concern that we should not focus all our energies on one issue. An activist came to me following the Summit and said, "I have really begun to think more broadly." There is the recognition that we all have to work together and develop a responsible overall strategy.

Where does NBCC go from here in terms of these questions?

FV: NBCC is going to continue to coordinate this dialogue. We have told Congress we have done this (the Summit concluded with a Congressional Forum on Capitol Hill), and want to be accepted as coordinator of these efforts. Rather than discussing a specific piece of legislation, we talked about our intentions of helping to design a strategy that takes into account the complexity of the issue, and that they have to be part of this.
We will have more meetings such as this Summit, and we have much material with which to work. For example, we have done an extensive search performed of all Federal and State legislation and regulations relating to cancer and the environment. This is "raw data" which we will now need to analyze. We are very concerned with the importance of how resources are allocated and we will continue to focus on stepping back, looking at the overall picture, and defining criteria by which we'll make these decisions.

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Last Update 06.23.00