BILL NUMBER: S7095A

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to expanding health
education curriculum to include breast cancer screenings

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to expand New York State health
education requirements to include age and developmentally appropriate
instruction in performing self-examinations for breast cancer screen-
ings.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 5 of section 804 of education
law to include age and developmentally appropriate instruction in
performing self-examinations for breast cancer prevention and detection
for high school students and adds a new paragraph 5(b)to permit local
              

boards of education to to provide such age and developmentally appropri-
ate instruction in elementary and middle schools.

Section 2 establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to the State Department of Health, breast cancer is the most
commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths
among women in New York State. Each year, nearly 16,000 women in New
York are newly diagnosed with breast cancer and over 2,500 women die
from the disease. While Education Law currently includes a health educa-
tion instructional requirement on methods of prevention and detection of
certain cancers including breast cancer for high school students it does
not specifically identify self-examinations as a prevention or detection
method.

The First Company Pink organization brought this issue to the forefront
in the "got checked? Plan of Action" campaign urging expanded breast
health education for all students. Under the legislation, high school
students would benefit from learning the importance early on of self-
care and self-examinations as a breast cancer screening method and local
boards of education would be authorized to provide younger students with
such age and developmentally appropriate instruction that will provide a
lifelong benefit. Early detection is vital to preventing breast cancer
deaths and accurate and appropriate information is the best way to
achieve early detection. The State of Connecticut recently enacted an
age and developmentally appropriate self-examination statute for breast
cancer screenings for their students.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on July 1 next succeeding the date on which
it shall have become law.