WICOMICO COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT AWARDED BREAST CANCER PREVENTION GRANT

(August 16, 2017, Salisbury, MD) -- The Wicomico County Health Department is pleased to announce that it was recently awarded a grant for $25,000 from Susan G. Komen® Maryland for its “Closing the Gap:   Hispanic Women and Breast Cancer” program.

Closing the Gap is a culturally appropriate program for uninsured and underinsured Hispanic women on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. The services include interpretation, translation, and patient navigation. 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 funding from Komen Maryland is critical to reaching this small, but underserved population.”

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.

“Komen Maryland is proud to continue supporting the Wicomico County Health Department’s, ‘Closing the Gap’ program.  This important program serves the women of Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset Counties, which are priority counties for Komen Maryland because incidence and mortality rates for breast cancer are high in this region as compared to the rest of the state,” commented Lori Yates, Eastern Shore Manager for Susan G Komen® Maryland.

One in 8 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and 5,250 women in Maryland will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Maryland has the 6th highest breast cancer death rate in the country.

Komen recently announced a new Bold Goal to reduce current breast cancer deaths in the U.S. by 50% in the next decade, primarily by focusing on metastatic breast cancer research and health equity. Komen is encouraging supporters to help them meet that goal by going beyond awareness and taking an active role in the fight against breast cancer. The call to action for this movement is #MoreThanPink.

For more information, or to find out if the eligibility requirements for ‘Closing the Gap,’ call the Wicomico County Health Department at 410-334-3480.  

About Susan G. Komen and the Komen Maryland Affiliate

Susan G. Komen is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit while providing real-time help to those facing the disease. Komen was founded in 1982 by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy’s life. Komen Maryland is working to better the lives of those facing breast cancer in the local community. Through events like the Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure®, Komen Maryland has invested $39 million in community breast health programs in Maryland, with over $4 million going to programs on the Eastern Shore, along with national research. For more information, call 410-938-8990 or visit www.komenmd.org.

Photo caption:

The Wicomico County Health Department receives funding

in the amount of $25,000 from Susan G. Komen® Maryland

for its “Closing the Gap:   Hispanic Women and Breast Cancer”

program. Pictured are Cara Rozaieski and Elizabeth Martinez

from Wicomico Health and Lori Yates from Komen Maryland.