Neyya
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is under way. You can tell by the overwhelming production of breast cancer content, commentary and 5K walks. Pink hues are everywhere. October has been dedicated to the memory of millions of women—who have succumbed to the disease and to the public support of those who are breast cancer survivors, thrivers or are in active treatment, currently battling for their lives—since 1985, when several sponsors, including The American of Family Physicians, AstraZeneca Healthcare Foundation, Cancer Care Inc, came together to promote early detection through mammograms. As it stands almost 40 years later, a national movement that is built around awareness, fundraising, and proaction is now baked right into the month—and rightfully so.
Particularly so, since Black women are still dying from breast cancer at an alarming rate, 40 percent to be exact, despite a significant 43 percent drop in breast cancer death rates between 1989 and 2020, and a recent report released by American Cancer Society detailed. This disparity isn’t novel, nor is it inexplicable. It is rooted in health care bias.
“We have been reporting this same disparity year after year for a decade,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and senior author of the report. “It is time for health systems to take a hard look at how they are caring differently for Black women.”
Roughly 287,850 American women will receive an invasive breast cancer diagnosis. Of that number, 43,250 will not survive the disease. The ACS report also revealed that Black women have the lowest “5-year relative survival rate” compared to any race or ethnicity “for every breast cancer subtype and stage” with the exception of stage 1.
The bleak reality of the reports findings is a tell-tell sign that Breast Cancer Awareness Month matters.
What also matters is vigorous breast cancer advocacy and awareness beyond the month of October to address the disparity and counter the breast cancer mortality rate. Here are five breast cancer thrivers who take breast cancer awareness to the next level on social media.
Erika Hart M.Ed
Aisha Patterson
Lisa Lee
Lauren Tarpley
BeautifulSmile
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