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The U.S. Embassy is going pink. No, we’re not
trying to give fashion advice. We’re going pink for Breast
Cancer Awareness Month. Maybe you’ve seen the ribbon on our
building, or our pink website.
Since the first Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1985, many
groups around the world have gone pink, joining the effort
to raise awareness of the importance of breast cancer screening
and early detection in saving women’s lives. This effort has
made a difference in the United States, where mammography
rates have more than doubled for women age 50 and older, and
breast cancer deaths have declined in the last 20 years.
This is great progress, but there are still women who do
not take advantage of any method of early detection and others
who do not get screening mammograms or clinical breast exams
at regular intervals. In the United States, Hispanic and Native
American women have fewer mammograms than Caucasian women
and African American women. And here in Mexico, too few women
get screened for breast cancer, which means it is often detected
in later stages, making it harder to treat successfully. It
pained me to learn that only 5% of breast cancer cases in
Mexico are diagnosed in stages 0 and 1 – before they have
spread throughout the body; and that 12 women die daily from
this disease, whereas in the United States, 50% of cases are
diagnosed in the early stages.
We can do something about that. For one thing, each of us
can encourage the women in our lives to get regular mammograms
starting no later than age 40. Second, we can help make mammograms
and treatment more affordable by contributing to organizations
that promote women’s health and breast cancer treatment. Whether
you donate money or time, or simply purchase products with
the pink ribbon, you can make a difference.
The U.S. government has also pledged to make a difference
by creating an international network of breast cancer activists
linking NGOs, health workers, experts, and doctors in the
United States with counterparts in the Middle East and Latin
America. This network was extended to Mexico last year through
the U.S. – Mexico Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness
and Research. First Lady Laura Bush and Margarita Zavala helped
us inaugurate that partnership officially this March.
Through the Partnership, eighty women from 31 different organizations
in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara participated in
training sessions sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure,
a U.S. NGO which has raised the profile of breast cancer and
contributed to significant research toward finding a cure.
These Mexican women learned Komen’s proven strategies for
community outreach and awareness campaigns, and became part
of a network that will continue to work together to help end
this disease. The Partnership also linked the University of
Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center up with the Mexican National
Cancer Institute in order to collaborate on research.
I lost my mother and my sister to cancer, and as I watched
them fight, I learned that early detection is vital. They
had years with their families because they caught their cancers
early enough to treat them. And that experience is not unique.
Because of early detection and improved treatment, the five-year
survival rate for women diagnosed with early stage breast
cancer is 98%, and nearly 2.5 million survivors of breast
cancer are alive today.
It’s time for women everywhere to have those odds, and to
have that time with their families. So join us this month
in going pink. Wear a pink ribbon, contribute to a charity,
take your mom to the doctor, or watch your friend’s kids so
she can go get screened. Help fight breast cancer and save
lives.
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