• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Connecticut Health Center Offers Free Breast Exams to Help Combat Breast Cancer

Posted on: Monday, 2 October 2006, 18:00 CDT

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Community Health Center in Bridgeport, CT is one of hundreds of Community Health Centers across the country helping low-income, uninsured women better their odds against breast cancer with affordable mammograms and free early screenings. Breast Cancer remains the second leading cause of death among women in the U.S., and low-income women without health insurance suffer lower rates of survival. But Southwest, which serves over 13,300 patients, is hoping to counter that trend by crossing the economic divide to provide low income and uninsured women with mammograms at no cost. In addition to their regular services, Southwest will reach out to low income women with an event on October 17 aimed at spreading awareness of how to prevent breast cancer with early screenings and self exams.

"We are one of the only resources that low income women have in Bridgeport," said Katherine Yacavone, President/CEO of Southwest Community Health Centers. "We are one of the few providers in the community that provide onsite mammography to women of all income levels as part of our cancer screening efforts. We do not want finances to be a barrier to receiving good preventative health care or to detecting breast cancer in its early stages."

Survival rates of breast cancer are much higher when detected in its early stages. However, according to the American Cancer Society, lower income women are more likely to be diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease. Southwest has been providing on site mammography since 1991. As part of a larger initiative, called The Michelle Project, the center takes cancer screening very seriously and emphasizes breast cancer prevention through its OB-GYN services. It not only offers affordable mammography services, but has a local educational outreach program, and participates in the State of Connecticut's Breast and Cervical cancer program to make pap smears and breast exams available to women over the age of 40 at no cost. Over the past year, the health center clients received over 400 mammograms-a number that continues to grow. The health center also has a bilingual staff that includes an obstetrician-gynecologist who speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese, boosting its outreach efforts to the growing Brazilian population in the community.

Community health centers are on the front lines of the battle against breast cancer, offering early screenings and prevention services to the low income and uninsured. Last year, health centers provided over 467,000 mammograms to medically underserved women around the nation.

Established in 1971, NACHC is a non-profit organization whose mission is (1) to represent the interests of federally supported and other federally qualified health centers and (2) to serve as an information source concerning issues of health care for poor and medically underserved populations in the United States.

CONTACT: Amy Simmons

(202)296-1890

National Association of Community Health Centers

CONTACT: Amy Simmons of National Association of Community Health Centers,+1-202-296-1890

Web site: http://www.nachc.com/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category