Think Pink? Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I'm a Green Bay Packer fan and in October, all the teams highlight Breast Cancer Awareness month with pink NFL wear.  But, here's my question: is anyone not aware of breast cancer?  I mean, maybe in other countries where people die young of many other diseases before cancer ever touches them...but in the US?  I just don't think so.

So, yay, we are all aware of breast cancer.  If that were enough, then breast cancer deaths would be zero, right?  According to the CDC, in 2008 (the most recent year of published statistics), there were 40,000 breast cancer deaths in the US.  This is down by 2% over all races/ethnic groups. This is great.  However, in this, the 21st century, where breast cancer can be detected much earlier than before, why are people still dying of it? Here's the problem, only about 70% of white, black, and Asian women are screened for breast cancer, while only about  62% of Hispanic and American Indian women are screened.  Here's some more useful stats: 73% of women with a college degree are screened, 65% of women with a high school diploma of GED are screened, and only 54% of women with no diploma or GED are screened.

So, we're missing 30-40% of all women.  Is it the cost of a mammogram?  I hope not, but now with the ACA (Obamacare), mammograms are completely covered by all insurances at no cost to the patient.  Is it lack of knowledge about screening?  Maybe, but if you have a doctor, you should be told about screening.  It is the fact that it is not painless?  I'm not sure.

My point is, we're aware of breast cancer.  So, is our money well spent on awareness? NO.  This money needs to go towards education about screening, towards breast cancer treatments, towards encouragement of doctors being family physicians.  We need to stop being aware of breast cancer and start curing it.