One cause for celebration during National Breast Cancer Month in October is the success of South Dakota's All Women Count! breast and cervical cancer program.

The program has reached the milestone of 12,000 women served since it began screenings more than 10 years ago in 1997.

The All Women Count! program provides mammograms and Pap smears to income and age eligible women. Eligible women age 40 to 64 can receive a mammogram and women 30 to 64 a Pap smear. In addition to those screenings, the program does cholesterol and blood pressure screens for heart disease and glucose screens for diabetes.

It has also received a $41,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, enabling the program to provide mammograms for income-eligible women starting at the age of 40. Previously, the eligible age was 50.

Because early detection and treatment is the only way to save lives when it comes to breast cancer, the increased population eligible for screening is great news, says Patty Lihs, All Women Count! program coordinator. "We're very pleased that we can now make screening mammograms available to even more women."

Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosis for women in South Dakota, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women who live here, according to the state's cancer registry for 2003. Few South Dakota women have not had their lives, or the lives of someone they love, touched by breast cancer.

That's why we hope more South Dakota women will commit to being part of the Sister Study, the first big national study of the environmental and genetic causes of breast cancer to be done by enrolling 50,000 women who have never had breast cancer, but are the sisters of women who have been diagnosed with it.

2007 is the last recruitment year for the longterm study, and the Sister Study is still about 8,000 women short of its goal of 50,000 women between the ages of 35 and 75. It is particularly interested in enrolling more minority women. Just 486 Native American sisters have signed up, and the study is looking for more.

To enroll in the Sister Study, call 1-877-4SISTER or visit the website www.sisterstudy.org.

To find out if you are eligible for the All Women Count! Program, call the state Department of Health toll free at 1-800-738-2301 or visit http://doh.sd.gov/AllWomenCount/