UAMS Breast Cancer Awareness Program Receives Grant from Avon Foundation

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK — The Witness Project, a program of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) to increase awareness of breast cancer, has been awarded a $26,000 one-year grant from the Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund. It is the fourth year that the program has received Avon Foundation funding.


 


The Witness Project, sponsored by the UAMS College of Public Health and founded by the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, educates African-American and medically underserved women and refers them to low-cost or free mammograms and clinical breast exams in their communities. Mobile mammography units provide screenings for women living in counties with limited access to certified mammography facilities. The program also assists women with transportation and other unmet needs. Educational programs are presented at churches, civic centers, job sites and during community activities.


 


Since January of 2005, The Witness Project has reached more than 1,300 women with information about the importance of early detection of breast cancer and has referred almost 300 women for mammograms and clinical breast exams.


 


Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the United States, and the leading single cause of death overall in women between the ages of 40 and 55. Based upon 2005 data from the American Cancer Society, The Witness Project anticipates that 2,030 new cases of breast cancer will be detected in Arkansas this year and 390 lives will be lost. 


 


Nationwide, there is a new diagnosis every three minutes and a death from breast cancer every 14 minutes.  While advances have been made in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure, early detection still provides the best opportunity for successful treatment.  Programs such as The Witness Project help ensure that all women have access to early detection information and options, even poor and medically underserved women.


 


“We are proud that the Avon Foundation shares our mission and has chosen to support our program.  With this grant we can provide more education, awareness and screenings for the women in the Delta and rural Arkansas through the use of our mobile and modular mammography units,” said Ethel Davis, a witness role model for The Witness Project.


 


The Avon Foundation has funded more than 1,000 community-based breast health programs across the United States in the past 12 years. These programs are dedicated to educating underserved women about breast cancer and linking them to early detection screening services.


 


The Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund is administered by Cicatelli Associates Inc. to support community-based, nonprofit breast health programs across the country. The Fund’s National Advisory Board selected The Witness Project at UAMS as one of 117 new grant recipients nationwide in the 2006 cycle of Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund grants. These organizations were chosen based on their ability to reach women, particularly minority, low-income, and older women, who are often medically underserved.


 


For information on The Witness Project, call Charlie Stayton at (501) 661-9603 or (800) 275-1183. For information about breast cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at (800) ACS-2345 or www.cancer.org, or the National Cancer Institute at (800) 4-CANCER or www.cancer.gov.


 


To learn more about the Avon Foundation, call (866) 505-AVON or visit www.avonfoundation.org.  The Breast Health Resource Guide is available on the Web site in both English and Spanish. For information or to register or support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer events, visit www.avonwalk.org or call (877) WALK-AVON. 


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,320 students and 690 medical residents. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with almost 9,000 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Center. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.3 billion a year.