The Closing of Gap In Breast Cancer Rates

A task force met for the first time Friday to conquer the health care crisis presented by breast cancer in Chicago. A big gap in cancer rates exists between African-American and white women in Chicago.

As CBS 2 Medical Editor Mary Ann Childers reports, the group has a battle plan.
Fifty-year-old Stephanie Davis should have been having follow-up mammograms once a year, but a busy life at home and work got in the way.

"Matter of fact, it's been 12 years since I had one,” Davis said.
A report released last October by Chicago’s Sinai Urban Health Institute revealed that lack of access to mammograms is just one reason black women in Chicago have a 68 percent higher death rate than white women.

Other factors include lower-quality mammograms and inferior treatment.
"In Chicago, that 68 percent is four times larger than what it is in NYC. So we know these problems can be fixed,” said Steven Whitman, Ph.D., epidemiologist and director of Sinai Urban Health Institute.

Friday’s summit was the first meeting of the city-wide task force to narrow the gap.
Some ideas on the table are increasing funding for mammograms and educating black women about getting the tests regularly.

Davis said her doctor never recommended she get one every year.
"I didn't know it had to be done that often,” she said.
As for treatment, getting started soon within a month, Whitman says, is the key to saving lives.

"We know of many, many cases in which women don't get in for 60, 90, even 6 months,” Whitman said.
Whitman says one of his favorite ideas is to create a treatment hotline where all hospitals would report daily open treatment slots. That way, more women could get in as soon as possible.

The task force will work on its recommendations over the next six months and release its final report in October.

source:www.cbs2chicago.com