Go Pink!
Show Your True Colors during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October
You can be one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who “Go Pink” this October during Breast Cancer Awareness month. That’s because pink is the universal color for promoting awareness and educating the public about the importance of early detection in fighting breast cancer.
Why are so many people “Going Pink?” During one’s lifetime, the overall risk for a woman developing breast cancer is one in eight. Put another way, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes.
Almost everyone has a family member or friend who has been affected by the disease. It’s a medical issue that can be addressed by annual mammograms and national publicity campaigns.
Consider just a few examples of people and businesses “Going Pink.” During October, thousands of websites will change their colors to pink, and many people will wear a small pink ribbon as a sign of their support. The National Football League (NFL) is promoting a line of Breast Cancer Awareness Gear – everything from jerseys and helmets to Christmas tree decorations – all in pink. Fans can order the gear customized with their favorite team’s logo. And Frito Lay will be using pink packaging for many of its brands during the month.
“Going Pink” isn’t just for October either. This past spring, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) promoted a “Buckets for the Cure” campaign, changing its buckets of chicken from red to pink. For each bucket sold, 50 cents was donated to the fight against breast cancer.
How Women Are Fighting Back
The good news is that breast cancer can be treated successfully, especially if it’s caught early. By far, the most effective way to detect breast cancer in its early stages is to have an annual mammogram. The American Cancer Society recommends all women 40 and older have a mammogram once a year. Yet despite these recommendations, it’s estimated that one in three women 40 and older do not receive an annual mammogram. The American Cancer Society also recommends that women 40 and older receive a clinical breast exam by their personal physician every year, and women in their 20s and 30s have one every two to three years.
Awareness Works!
The ongoing effort to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention is working. According to the American Cancer Society, the death rate from breast cancer decreased more than two percent each year from 1990 to 2004. That’s due in large part to the dramatic increase in women having mammograms, which jumped from 39 percent to 70 percent for women over 40 from 1987 to 2000. Unfortunately, the percentage of women having mammograms has actually decreased in the last five years. We’ve come too far in the fight against breast cancer to startbacktracking now. During October, encourage your friends and loved ones, your mother, daughters and sisters, to schedule a mammogram. It’s the right thing to do.