WEALTH

Newsletter of the WIN Womens Health Policy Network OCTOBER 2011 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1
Meet Your 2011-2012 Co-Chairs
Tara Mancini

HHS Adopts IOM Recommendations for Womens Preventive Health Services

By now most of our readers know about the many benefits from full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . One of the profound changes is a shift in the underlying philosophy of our health care system, from curing disease to prevention. The law mandates first-dollar coverage for some preventive services. While both men and women stand to benefit from this new model, womens health can make great gains. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) tasked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) with recommending what womens preventive health services should fall under the first-dollar provision. Preventive services have been defined by IOM as measures that include: medications, procedures, devices, tests, education and counseling that improve wellbeing, and/or decrease the likelihood or onset of a disease/condition. In July, the IOM published a report recommending to HHS that womens preventive services contain the following: improved cervical cancer screening, STIs counseling, and HIV counseling and screening ; a fuller range of contraceptive education, counseling, methods, and services so women can better avoid unwanted pregnancies and space their pregnancies to promote optimal birth outcomes; services for pregnant women including screening for gestational diabetes and lactation counseling and equipment to help women who choose to breastfeed do so successfully; at least one well-woman preventive care visit annually for women to receive comprehensive services; and culturally sensitive screening and counseling for all women and adolescent girls for interpersonal violence. Within two weeks of IOM issuing the report, HHS adopted all recommendationsall of the above will be fully covered by new health plans beginning on or after August 1, 2012.
Source: Institute of Medicine

Omoniyi Adekanmbi

Network Announcements
Join us for our kick-off event, Peroni & Policy:
Happy Hour with the WIN Womens Health Policy Network. Come meet your fellow WINers in public health and health policy, hear about our plans for the Network this year, and learn how you can get more involved. Thursday, October 13, from 6:30-8:30 pm at Vapiano Chinatown. RSVP to healthpolicy@winonline.org. Writers, designers, thinkers wanted! Contribute to the WIN Womens Health Policy Network Newsletter. Contact healthpolicy@winonline.org to learn more! We want to know what you want out of your Womens Health Policy Network this year. Tell us through WHP Network 2011-2012 Member Survey HERE! Please complete by October 10th.

Healthy WINers
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, aside from skin cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), White women have a slightly greater chance of developing breast cancer than African American women (at a rate of 127.3 per 100,000 women vs. 119.9 per 100,000 women). But, African American women are more likely to die from breast cancer, with 32.4 deaths per 100,000 women, compared to an average of 23.4 deaths per 100,000 U.S. women. Asian, Hispanic and Native American women, on the other hand, have lower risks of both developing and dying from breast cancer than White and African American women. Overall, death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990 due, partially, to earlier detection. American Cancer Society recommendations for early breast cancer detection:

Did You Know?

October 19 is Love Your Body Day!
Having a long-lasting negative body image can affect both your mental and physical health. People who have a longlasting negative body image are more likely to have anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, take risks with their sexual health, stop doing healthy activities that require them to show their bodies, such as exercising, and suffer from serious mental health problems. Learn more HERE.
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Women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year as long as they are in good health & a yearly breast exam by a health professional Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam as part of a periodic health exam at least every 3 years Breast self exam is an option for women starting in their 20s

Sources: NCI, American Cancer Society, & National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Organization

Womens Health Action on the Hill

September 8: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and

Recommended Reading
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler Ann Fessler brings to light the lives of hundreds of thousands of young single American women forced to give up their newborn children in the years following World War II and before Roe v. Wade. Today, when the future of the Roe decision and women's reproductive rights stand squarely at the front of a divisive national debate, Fessler brings to the fore a long-overlooked history of single women in the fifties, sixties, and early seventies. Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide by Andrea Lee Smith In Conquest, Smith places Native American women at the center of her analysis of sexual violence, challenging both conventional definitions of the term and conventional responses to the problem. Beginning with the impact of the abuses inflicted on Native American children at state-sanctioned boarding schools, Smith adroitly expands our conception of violence to include environmental racism, population control and the widespread appropriation of Indian cultural practices. Smith deftly connects these and other examples to the high rates of violence against Native American women-the most likely women in the U.S. to die of poverty-related illnesses, be victims of rape and suffer partner abuse.

Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families held a hearing, Examining Quality Child Care: Giving Working Families Security, Confidence, and Peace of Mind September 8: House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing on the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program September 8: House Veterans Affairs Committee approved H.R. 2074, the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act September 14: House Ways and Means Committee approved the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (H.R. 2883) September 14: Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing, The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act: Renewing the Commitment to Victims of Human Trafficking September 21: House approved the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (H.R. 2883); Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent September 22 September 22: House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights held a hearing, Chinas One-Child Policy: The Governments Massive Crime Against Women and Unborn Babies

Source: Womens Policy Inc.

Upcoming Events in Womens Health

October 5, 12 - 1:15pm: Perspectives from Women of Color on Domestic Violence, Economic (In)stability, and Community. Location: Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20005. RSVP to attend this event. October 5, 2 - 3 pm: Webinar: The Power of Policy, A Cost-Effective Tool for Improving Population Health. Register HERE. October 5-6: IoM Workshop - Nutrition and Healthy Aging in the Community. Location: Holiday Inn Central, 1501 Rhode Island, Washington, DC 20005. Register HERE. October 10, 1 - 2 pm: Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs Webinar - The Life Course Perspective in Promoting Health in Aging. Register HERE. October 11, 12-1 pm: Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions Webinar - Advancing LGBT Patient-Centered Care: Strategies to Create an Inclusive Environment. Learn More HERE. October 12, 5:30 - 8 pm: Women in Health Care DC Networking Event. Topic: Underserved and Health Care. Location: 750 1st Street NE Suite 1020, Washington, D.C. Learn more HERE. October 13, 8:30 am - 3:30 pm: Maryland Hunger Solutions: Inaugural ConferenceFighting Hunger in Maryland. Location: Pennsylvania Avenue AME Zion Church, 1128 Pennsylvania Ave, Baltimore, MD. Learn more HERE. October 16 - October 22: YWCA Week Without Violence. Join YWCAs and individuals across the country in unity against violence, declaring Enough! during YWCA Week Without Violence. Contact your YWCA, North Capital Area October 17: 2011 IOM Annual Meeting - Vaccines: The Science, Policy, and Practice of Immunization.. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. More Information HERE. October 17-18: American Psychological Association, Howard University Womens Health Institute, and Gallaudet University - Inequity to Equity: Promoting Health and Wellness of Women with Disabilities Conference. Location: Kellogg Conference Hotel at Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002. More Information HERE. October 27, 8:30 am - 5 pm: DC Primary Care Association 14th Annual Meeting - Labor Pains: The Birth of a New System of Health Care. Location: Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002. Learn More HERE. October 31 - November 1: Workshop on the Role of Obesity in Cancer Survival and Recurrence. Location: Keck Center (Room 100), 500 Fifth St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 November 1, 5:30 - 7:30 pm:: National Womens Health Network Annual Fall Benefit: 35 Years: Standing Strong. Location: Busboys & Poets, 5th & K Streets NW, Washington, DC. RVSP by October 15 HERE. November 2: Adventist HealthCare Annual Health Disparities Conference - Partnering Toward a Healthier Future: Achieving Health Equity through Health Care Reform. Learn More HERE.

Take Action For Womens Health!

October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Did you know

that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime? This month, raise awareness with the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCCADV) at the following events, full calendar HERE. For more information on domestic violence visit the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence at www.ncadv.org. Saturday, October 8: Ward 8 Council Against Domestic Violence Walk. Join the Ward 8 Council Against Domestic Violence and local advocates for their annual Walkathon. The walk will start at THE ARC (1901 Mississippi Ave., SE, Washington DC 20020). For more information contact Sandra Seegers, Founder, at beasurvivortoday@aol.com Saturday, October 15: University Student Leadership Council Training. To learn more contact Andrea Gleaves, agleaves@dccadv.org. Wednesday, October 26: Domestic Violence Awareness/Immigration Colloquium. Join the Dialogue on Diversity and other local programs for a candid conversation about domestic violence, its characteristics, its remedies, and steps for its prevention; as well as several facets of the immigration phenomenon. Learn more HERE October 15, 1-3 pm: VA Pro-Choice Rally for Womens Health. Join the Virginia Coalition to Protect Womens Health to protest the recent TRAP (Targeted Regulation against Abortion Providers) laws passed by the Virginia Board of Health. RSVP HERE for the prochoice rally in Richmond; learn more about the VA regulations and TRAP laws HERE.
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