Apr 14, 2009 6:35 pm US/Central
Minorities Urged To Get Breast Cancer Screening
Black And Latina Women Die From Breast Cancer At Higher Rate Than White Women
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Billboards encouraging African-American women and Latinas to get screened for breast cancer will soon be popping up around Chicago.
CBS
Thousands of Chicago Sun-Times readers opened their papers to learn about columnist
Mary Mitchell's bout with cancer. The columnist says her doctor discovered the lump during a routine physical in March. Mitchell is calling for all women, especially African-American women, to get mammograms.
In fact, studies show that black women in Chicago die of cancer at a rate of 116 percent higher than white women. Hispanic women also have a higher death rate. CBS 2's Mai Martinez takes a look at what one organization is doing to try to save lives.
Billboards will soon be popping up along expressways in the Chicago area and CTA bus shelters, but they're not pushing a product, instead their aimed at saving lives by encouraging African-American women and Latinas to get screened for breast cancer.
"Women that are African American and Latina have a 40 percent higher rate than white women of dying from breast cancer," said Paulina Guzman of Access Community Health Network.
Guzman says that's due in large part to fear, and the lack of both information and health care in many Latino and African American communities.
Because so many African-American women and Latinas attend church regularly, the
Access Community Health Network also decided to take their breast cancer awareness campaign to houses of worship throughout the state.
"Women tend to listen and they tend to follow through because their religious leader is telling them, reminding them that they need to practice early detection," Guzman said.
It's a message echoed by breast cancer survivor Kim Jones Thompson, whose boss, Cook County Commissioner Deborah Sims, is one of the prominent Chicago women featured on the billboards encouraging breast cancer screening.
"It's easier for you to find out that it's nothing, than you wait three years like I did, and then find out I had breast cancer," Thompson said.
Thompson believes the billboards can help save lives, and she wants other women of color to know they're not alone when it comes to cancer.
"Don't give into that fear," Thompson said. "I've never given into that fear."
And she won't allow those around her to give in either.
"My oldest daughter, she started to cry, and I said 'no, don't cry.' I said, 'the fight is on, and we going to win,' and we won," Thompson said.
Thompson has been winning that fight against breast cancer for six years now.
Access Community Health Network plans to take their campaign to more than 300 churches this Mother's Day.
The group is hoping to reach more than a half million women through their efforts, but they stress cancer knows no age, race, or sex, so everyone should talk to their doctors and get screened.
For a link to Access Community Health Network,
click here.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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