WICOMICO COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT AWARDED BREAST CANCER PREVENTION GRANT

(Salisbury) -- The Wicomico County Health Department is pleased to announce that it was recently awarded a grant from Susan G. Komen® Maryland for its “Closing the Gap: Hispanic/Latino women and Breast Cancer” prevention program.This program is a culturally appropriate navigation program that provides breast cancer referral, screening, and education for uninsured and underinsured Hispanic/Latino women on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland.

The services include mammograms, clinical breast exams, and diagnostic tests. The program also improves awareness, knowledge, and attitudes about breast health among this at-risk population.

“Screening rates for Latinas are lower than those for white or African American women,” says Lori Brewster, Health Officer of the Wicomico County Health Department, “and these women often face environmental or occupational exposures that increase their health risk.”

The National Institutes of Health noted in 2013 that while Latinas in the United States have a lower incidence of breast cancer compared to non-Latina whites, breast cancer is the most common cancer among Latinas.

The Race for the Cure® is Komen Maryland’s largest fundraising event and the primary means of funds for their community grant program through which this program is funded. The Races will take place on Sunday October 25, 2015—Komen Maryland Race for the Cure in Hunt Valley, Maryland and in April 2016 —Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure.

For more information, or to find out if you are eligible for the program, call the Wicomico County Health Department at 410-334-3480.