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The general topic of this message is Women's Issues:
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Subject:
Contact Your Federal Officials
To:
President Barack Obama
Sen. John Cornyn
Rep. Silvestre Reyes
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
May 21, 2012
Coalition for the Reversal of Breast Cancer Mortality in African American Women:
Dear Mr President,
Dear Senators,
Dear Representatives,
the Coalition I represent would like to call your attention upon the following issue:
Of the estimated 6,040 annual deaths in the African American community
because of Breast Cancer, up to 3,000 could be prevented. My own mother
died of breast cancer and I promised her that I will do something on her
behalf before I pass on.
I would be glad to forward the full set of statistical and scientific
data that supports our findings. With the CRBCM we are now calling for a
formal acknowledgement of this issue and a promise that a 10-year
priority program should seek the reversal of this mortality of innocent
African American women. Let us invest in saving lives at home. 3,000
African American women will die this year alone and effective action is
urgently needed.
The reasons why African American Women are still today missing out on
appropriate and timely screening for breast cancer and early
intervention have been researched, analyzed and published. No tangible
measures, however, have been suggested to bridge the gap between
existing resources, the wealth of scientific and socio-economic
knowledge and the effective communication with the African American
women who keep missing out on this specific type of time sensitive
health care.
In the evolving history of breast cancer mortality, interventions by
leaders have proven to be effective. Mammograms, the cessation of
hormone replacement therapy, the discovery of the BRCA Mutation, all
have proven effective in reducing mortality, and led to an adjustment of
treatment guidelines. The next main action with the largest impact is
to invest in interventions to curb the breast cancer mortality in
African American women who take the brunt by their heavy share of
reversible mortality.
The present Coalition proposes an action plan to reach out to these
women who live outside the traditional healthcare and social safety nets
in our nation, so that they can finally benefit from the free breast
cancer prevention programs that have been made available since 2000. The
Coalition will also push for improved and specific breast cancer
screening for this segment of the population and initiate further
research into the specificity of the histology of breast cancer in
African American women as it had been accomplished for the 1% of women
of Ashkenazi Jewish descendence with the BRCA mutation and consequently
modified guidelines.
With advances in radiologic detection methods and genetics (the human
genome is decoded) it is time to see the decrease of breast cancer
mortality in African American women as a reachable and objective goal
within 10 years. I am calling to your human side and compassion to pay
closer attention to this priority problem.
El Paso , TX |
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