Surgeon
Puts His Stamp on
Breast Cancer
By
Judy Lane
You may want to
think twice before
you say "no" to
Balazs (Ernie) Bodai,
MD. That's what
the United States
Postal Service learned
after it turned
down the 47-year-old
surgeon's proposal
for a special 33-cent
postage stamp, the
proceeds from the
extra penny to be
earmarked for breast
cancer research.
But the Postal Service
hadn't reckoned
with the kind of
determination that
Dr. Bodai brings
to his crusade to
find a cure for
breast cancer. This
August, that venerable
agency--now a staunch
ally of Dr. Bodai
and his idea--will
issue nationwide
a 40-cent semipostal
stamp, valid for
mailing at the 32-cent
first-class rate.
Net proceeds (seven
or eight cents for
each stamp sold)
will go for breast
cancer research--70%
to the National
Institutes of Health
(NIH) and 30% to
the Department of
Defense. (A fact
not widely known,
the Pentagon has
spent $500 million
on breast cancer
research since it
was first authorized
to do so by Congress
in 1992.)
Against the Odds
Dr. Bodai's
feat is astonishing
when one considers
the obstacles. To
start, there was
resistance, some
of it fierce, to
an unprecedented
fundraising stamp.
Objections came
from the Postal
Service itself,
from stamp collectors,
and yes, even from
national breast
cancer organizations.
Not surprisingly,
the Postal Service
was fearful of the
precedent a fundraising
stamp would set;
as it is, the agency
gets 40,000 ideas
a year for commemorative
stamps alone. Postal
authorities feared
that acquiescing
to one request for
a fundraising stamp
would unleash an
avalanche of similar
requests from other
crusaders for equally
worthy causes. More
surprising was the
opposition by the
American Philatelic
Society, whose leader
argued that the
added cost was tantamount
to an unfair tax
on stamp collectors.
And although some
may think of stamp
collecting as an
esoteric pastime
pursued by apolitical
hobbyists, stamp
collectors have
considerable lobbying
clout, contributing
$100 million in
annual profits to
the Postal Service.
Then too, charity
or semipostal stamps
issued in other
countries have been
far from successful.
For example, a Canadian
stamp designed to
raise money for
the 1976 Olympics
was a dismal failure,
as was a more recent
stamp to raise money
to fight illiteracy.
Finally, Dr. Bodai
had to face the
sobering reality
that should he pursue
legislative action,
the chances of getting
a bill--any bill--through
Congress would never
be more than a remote
possibility. This
year, for example,
10,000 bills were
introduced in Congress,
but only 40, including
the bill to mandate
a breast cancer
stamp, were passed.
Crusading for
the Cause
Still,
Dr. Bodai is not
a man to be easily
dissuaded from a
mission, and by
now his mission
had become a passion.
As Chief of Surgery
for Kaiser Foundation
Hospitals in Sacramento,
California, he had
grown increasingly
frustrated by his
inability to save,
through surgery,
many of his patients
with breast cancer.
And there is no
arguing that breast
cancer statistics
are sobering:
-
Each year,
breast cancer
affects 900,000
women worldwide,
nearly 200,000
of whom are
American, including
50,000 who will
die from the
disease.
-
Between
one in nine
and one in 11
women contracts
breast cancer.
-
At least
2.6 million
US women have
breast cancer,
an estimated
1.6 million
of whom have
undiagnosed
disease.
-
Breast cancer
is the most
common cause
of cancer-related
death in women
15 to 45 years
of age.
Disturbing as
these statistics
are, there is still
more discouraging
news for women.
First, mortality
rates for breast
cancer have not
decreased in nearly
half a century;
a woman who contracts
breast cancer in
1998 has no better
chance for survival
than did her counterpart
in 1950. Second,
because of the rising
costs of research,
proportionately
fewer research projects
are funded now than
in past years. The
NIH, for example,
currently funds
only 26% of all
proposals it receives.
Rejection of
his proposal by
US Postmaster General
Marvin Runyon only
strengthened Dr.
Bodai's resolve.
That resolve turned
positively steely
after he wrote to
48 congresswomen
and eight women
senators without
receiving a single
response. Recalls
Dr. Bodai, his voice
still tinged with
disbelief, "I got
zero response! That's
when I got mad.
That's when I bought
my first plane ticket
to Washington."
With a crusader's
zeal, he determined
to lobby Congress
to pass legislation
mandating that the
Postal Service issue
the special stamp.
Thus began an odyssey
that would take
him campaigning
to Washington 14
more times in the
next two years,
deplete his personal
savings by $100,000,
and transform him
into an instant
lobbyist. At the
same time, he knew
the importance of
gathering grassroots
support for his
cause. He vowed
never to decline
an invitation to
speak, and speak
he did: to more
than 200 groups,
including audiences
as small as two
persons and as large
as 1,500.
Despite the odds
against him--passage
of a revenue-raising
bill usually requires
$10 million and
four to five years--and
hoping that a congressional
bill would force
the Postal Service
into action, Dr.
Bodai began to prowl
the halls of Capitol
Hill together with
Elizabeth Mullen
(a 39-year-old survivor
of breast cancer
as well as founder
and CEO of the Covina,
California-based
Women's Information
Network Against
Breast Cancer) to
enlist support for
the idea of a fundraising
stamp. The work
was slow and often
tedious. "I had
a lot of doors slammed
in my face, but
I never gave up.
On the contrary,
the cause took over
my life," Dr. Bodai
says.
Adds Ms. Mullen,
"We had no experience,
but we quickly learned
the game." She believed
that lobbying for
the stamp was placing
her and Dr. Bodai
"on the brink of
history."
At Last--a Stamp!
Bipartisan
support for the
stamp grew, and
eventually Dr. Bodai
and Ms. Mullen obtained
commitments from
Representative Vic
Fazio (D-California)
and Senator Diane
Feinstein (D-California)
to shepherd a bill
through Congress.
Finally, on July
22, 1997, at 10:30
pm, Dr. Bodai perched
in the bleachers
of the House of
Representatives
to watch as the
bill flew through
the House on a vote
of 422-3. On a unanimous
vote, Senator Feinstein
arranged speedy
passage of an identical
bill through the
Senate. Three weeks
later, on August
13, 1997, President
Clinton signed the
Breast Cancer Research
Stamp Act into law.
Rife with symbolism,
the new breast cancer
stamp is a line
drawing against
a rainbow-hued background
that shows the upper
half of the body
of Artemis, Greek
goddess of the hunt
and protector of
young women. The
stamp bears the
legend, "BREAST
CANCER" and is the
work of Maryland
designer (and breast
cancer survivor)
Ethel Kessler and
of illustrator Whitney
Sherman. The words
"FUND THE FIGHT.
FIND A CURE." encircle
the woman's missing
breast, and her
right arm is raised
in the correct position
for examining one's
own breast. She
carries a bow and
a quiver of arrows:
her reach for an
arrow suggests her
intention to do
battle, and there
is no mistaking
the enemy.
 |
|
Balazs (Ernie)
Bodai, MD |
Bright Prospects
for More Research
Dr. Bodai
is understandably
elated with the
fundraising potential
of the stamp. The
Postal Service delivers
180 billion pieces
of mail each year,
one third of which
are sent via first-class
mail. Capturing
only half that market
would net an estimated
$210 million a year.
The US Postal Service
intends to issue
100 million stamps
in its first run.
Dr. Bodai expects
they'll sell in
one month. At seven
cents a stamp, that's
$7 million--and
it's only a start.
The stamp program
will continue for
a two-year test
period. Bodai hopes
to raise between
$60 million and
$300 million.
Dr. Bodai has,
against seemingly
impossible odds,
turned in a magician's
performance by realizing
his goal for a postage
stamp to fund breast
cancer research.
If anyone doubts
that statement,
consider this: The
US Postal Service,
once so opposed
to the fundraising
stamp, conducted
its own survey,
determined that
people disposed
toward charitable
contributions were
as likely to spend
eight cents as an
extra penny, and
itself decided to
increase the price
of the stamp to
40 cents! Still,
Dr. Bodai is not
without his critics:
some fault him for
focusing on breast
cancer while ignoring
other forms of cancer.
To those critics,
Dr. Bodai responds,
"Advances in breast
cancer treatment
are sure to cross-fertilize
into treatment for
other forms of cancer."
For Dr. Bodai, the
ultimate goal is
that the threat
from cancer--any
cancer--will cease
to exist.
