Bill will help under-served

To the editor:

I'd like to thank U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson for her support in making the Patient Navigator, Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005 a reality. Recently passed by Congress, this legislation will connect the medically under-served -- low-income, uninsured, racial and ethnic minorities and rural populations -- to vital health-care resources.

Patient Navigator programs act as a buddy system, pairing patients with a local health professional often called a navigator. Navigators schedule appointments, arrange transportation, act as interpreters, explain cultural differences and help patients find funds to pay for medical treatment. They also counsel patients on the importance of disease prevention and healthy lifestyle choices.

Patient navigators are a critical tool for achieving the National Cancer Institute's challenge goal of eliminating suffering and death from cancer as early as 2015 by helping to increase access to early detection screenings and timely treatment needed to combat cancer. I congratulatie Congress for passing this bill, as I know our community will greatly benefit.

In 2005, 30,120 persons in Missouri will be diagnosed with cancer, and another 12,550 will die. Enacting the Patient Navigator Act will help medically under-served communities. Thank you again, Representative Emerson, for supporting this life-saving legislation.

CHRISTY FERRELL, Volunteer, American Cancer Society, Caruthersville, Mo.