The Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pleased to release the first programmatic summary report of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). The NBCCEDP helps low-income, uninsured, and underserved women gain access to potentially lifesaving screening programs for the early detection of breast and cervical cancer. In 2004, an estimated 215,990 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 10,520 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, and about 44,010 women will die of these diseases combined.1 Many of these deaths could be avoided by increasing the cancer screening rates among women at risk. The  U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations state that timely mammography screening among women aged 40 years or older could prevent a significant number of all deaths from breast cancer.2 Papanicolaou (Pap) tests can detect cervical cancer at an early stage when it is most curable, and can prevent the disease altogether when precancerous lesions are found during the test and are treated in a timely manner.  Despite the availability of screening tests, deaths from breast and cervical cancer occur more frequently among women who are uninsured or under-insured. Mammography and Pap tests are underused by women who have less than a high school education, are older, live below the poverty level, or are members of certain racial and ethnic minority groups.3 To help improve access to breast and cervical cancer screening among these at-risk populations in the United States, Congress passed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act of 1990, which created the NBCCEDP. The program, funded at $30 million in fiscal year (FY) 1991, eventually grew to a nationwide program that received over $192 million in FY 2002. During this time, 1,175,759 women received 2,038,118 mammograms, and 1,329,523 women received 2,305,936 Pap tests through the NBCCEDP.  The intent of this report is to summarize the first 12 years of the NBCCEDP, from 1991 through 2002. Information on the program’s framework and history are given in addition to data on breast and cervical cancer screening results and outcomes for women served through the program. This report provides a basis for researchers to develop research questions that can be answered with more specific and advanced analyses using both the national and program-specific data. Individual programs can use these data to help guide activities to improve program management, evaluation, data management, and outreach activities.  The NBCCEDP’s comprehensive approach to breast and cervical cancer control ensures that not only medically underserved women benefit from this early detection effort, but that all women gain from the educational activities, public and private partnerships, and quality assurance standards implemented in our funded programs. At the state and community level, the development of early detection programs has resulted in a new organizational capacity and infrastructure for cancer control, increased staff resources and expertise, enabled multiple collaborative partnerships in the private and public sectors, built state and community coalitions, and promoted a greater understanding of the challenges in delivering preventive health services to women who are medically underserved. By presenting this report, the NBCCEDP hopes to demonstrate the continued momentum and commitment of federal and state governments to comprehensive screening programs that work to close the gap in health disparities, improve early detection rates, and reduce the illness and death from all cancers.