This past week, we’ve witnessed two public health bomb shells revealed. The first concerned breast cancer screening and the second cervical cancer screenings. Both called for limiting the screenings to older women. The announcements come in the midst of the healthcare reform legislation debate in Washington. Republicans claimed these new revelations were just the tip of the iceberg in what an Obama healthcare overhaul will mean for the average citizen. Republicans claimed these new revelations would lead to healthcare rationing and a decrease in the quality of medical care. Democrats insisted neither study will affect public policy. Which is true? In a sense, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the new revelations have left women confused over their healthcare choices. This isn’t good on any level if we’re concerned about the safety and health of women.
I’m not a scientist or a doctor. I don’t know if it’s better for women to delay breast cancer and cervical cancer screening until a later age. However, as someone who’s concerned about public relations and issues management, the revelation of these two new studies is a public relations disaster. The public would have been better served if all interested parties had had a chance to consider these studies before their revelation. The fact that the studies were published now only leads to public confusion and chaos. It would have been much better if the various groups including the American Cancer Society, and National Institutes of Health, and the federal government had all studied the relevant data and issued a joint statement.
This is what happens when the message and the messaging is not coordinated. Now we have conflicting opinions concerning a very important issue to all Americans. These conflicts lead to a diminution in public confidence. More importantly, healthcare workers are left to deal with the conflict. No one is served by this confusion.
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