Health and Wellness 8

Breast Cancer Is the Most Imperative Health Issue Facing African American Women

By d-mars.com News Provider

Though Black women get breast cancer at a slightly lower incidence rate than white women, Black women are 42% more like to DIE of breast cancer than white women. That is an astounding number and indicative of a variety of factors, many reflecting racial disparities.

Women do not need to DIE from breast cancer. It can’t be prevented but early stage breast cancer (meaning it has been localized within the breast) has a 99% 5-year survival rate. Note the inequity here: the overall 5-year relative survival rate for breast cancer diagnosed is 81% for black women versus 91% for white women. And, 54% of breast cancers in black women are diagnosed at a local stage, compared to 64% in white women.

To add more fuel to the fire, Black women under age 35 get breast cancer at two times the rate of white women and DIE from breast cancer three times as often as white women.

So, what’s the problem?

Why are Black women dying unnecessarily?

Higher death rates among Black women reflect the following:

1. Black women are not taking action. While 92% of black women agree breast health is important, only 25% have recently discussed breast health with their family, friends, or colleagues. And, only 17% have taken steps to understand their risk for breast cancer.

2. Black women lack information about the severity of breast cancer, breast cancer symptoms and the need for screening.

3. Black women take care of others at the expense of their own health.

4. Black Women are often at a more advanced stage upon detection.

5. Black women may not have access to health care or health insurance so may have lower frequency of and longer intervals between mammograms.

6. Because they may not have health insurance, Black women may not follow up on abnormal mammogram results because they can’t afford the diagnostic testing.

7. Black women often don’t have access to the same prompt high quality treatment that white women have. They express that they are often feel disrespected by physicians and staff

8. Black women face logistical barriers to accessing care (such as transportation issues or not being able to miss work or arrange for child care).

9. Black women fear a cancer diagnosis.

• Black women have the highest odds (2 times more likely) of getting Triple Negative Breast Cancer, a kind of breast cancer that often is aggressive and comes back after treatment. It has the highest mortality rate and is the only breast cancer sub-type that does not have a therapy to prevent recurrence. Note that younger women and women diagnosed at later stages are more likely to get Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

We Must Stop The Silence!

Early detection saves lives. Black women of all ages need to check their breasts monthly. We need to know what our “normal” feels like so if there is some abnormality, immediate action can be taken.

Black women need to understand the severity of this health crisis. We need to be talking about our health,

our family histories, and educating all of the women in our lives.

The ongoing conversations in this country around access to affordable health insurance must include acknowledgement and action regarding the inequities for Black women.

Black women need to demand the attention and care of health care professionals.

Sisters Network, Inc. is a sisterhood of survivors and thrivers. They will continue to fight like girls and be the voice of Black women. They are committed to increasing local and national attention to the devasting impact that breast cancer has in the African American community. They are working diligently to reduce the mortality rate of breast cancer among Black women by generating awareness, garnering attention, providing access to information and resources, and supporting research efforts in the ecosystem.

About Sisters Network® Inc.

About Sisters Network® Inc.

Sisters Network® Inc. founded in 1994 by Karen Eubanks Jackson, 25-year and three-time Breast Cancer Survivor. SNI is the only national African American breast cancer survivorship organization in the United States and a leading voice in the fight against breast cancer in the African American community. Sisters Network is governed by an elected Board of Directors. Membership includes over 20 survivor-run affiliate chapters nationwide. To learn more about Sisters Network Inc., please visit www.sistersnetworkinc.org.

Source: NNPA

Shelbi Campbell, Owner of MaskThePeople2020

By d-mars.com News Provider

After 20 years, d-mars.com continues to give back through our media platform, publishing content and success stories highlighting our business leaders and entrepreneurs. We are proud of our feature, the Young Entrepreneur Spotlight , shining light on our young African American adults in entrepreneurship who are already starting to leave a foot print in their industry. What makes these rising stars so special is their commit ment to business a nd the com munity at such a y oung age. This month’s spotlight is shined on Shelbi Campbell, owner of MaskThePeople2020

Shelbi, a native Houstonian earned her Associate of Arts degree from Houston Community College (HCC). She is currently enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and due to COVID-19, will resume in-person classes in 2021. Her company creates fashionable, but high-quality masks effective in helping reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Being just as invested in serving her community, for every five masks purchased, one is donated. Read the Q&A with Shelbi below, learning more about MaskThePeople2020.

this business full-time. I now have a very supportive community of followers/customers who are loyal and give me honest feedback that helps my business grow.

Q: Who do you admire in your industry?

A: I currently look up to all of the new, up-and-coming African American designers being recognized by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA) and Vogue this year. They make me believe that anything is possible.

Q: Where do you see yourself in the next few years?

A: In the next few years, I see myself owning my own luxury fashion brand worn by top influencers and recognized worldwide!

Is there anything else that you want to share with our readers?

A: MaskThePeople2020 has been such a blessing. It’s mainly helping pay for school. So, I am appreciative and grateful for each and every purchase and all of the support.

Q&A with Shelbi Campbell:

Q&A with Shelbi Campbell:

Q: What inspired you to start your company and what detail goes into each mask?

A: My company, MaskThePeople2020, was birthed during this pandemic. I wanted to design a mask that was fashionable, but also made with highquality materials, helping protect the wearer from COVID-19. Inspired by protective N95 respirator masks worn

by essential workers in health care, I make my masks lined with two layers of polypropylene, an air filtration material.

Q: How long have you been designing/ working in fashion and how have things been since you started your business?

A: I have been sewing for more than five years now. I am happy to design, using my skills and talents to create something that helps people. With the support of friends and family, I was able

to achieve the goal of starting my mask business. I was surprised at how many people were in need of masks. There is a high demand for them. I’m happy that my business can meet the need.

Q: How is your business growing?

A: Today, many people want safe and stylish masks for the 'new normal' that COVID-19 has brought. My business is running smoothly. I have made over 600 masks so far and am able to work on

We congratulate this fashionista for not being defeated during this pandemic, but instead realizing how her passion and purpose could meet a need, which in turn is making profits to help fund her education. To purchase your stylish, highquality mask, please visit www. maskthepeople2020.com or email contact@maskthepeople2020. com. You can also follow Shelbi and her business on Instagram: @maskthepeople2020 and @shelbi_campbell

Why It’s Now, More Than Ever, Important To Get a Flu Vaccine

By d-mars.com News Provider

Flu causes millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and tens of thousands of deaths in the United States yearly. This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to get a flu vaccine to protect yourself, your family and your community from flu and its potentially serious consequences.

this year. Flu vaccines help reduce the risk of developing potentially serious flu complications. This is especially important for people with certain long-term health conditions like diabetes, asthma and heart disease. Flu vaccines are also important for people who are 65 years or older who are more likely to get very sick from flu.

Reducing the number of people who are sick with flu also can reduce the burden on our medical systems. More people getting vaccinated can mean that fewer people will need to go to doc-

Both flu and COVID-19 are respiratory illnesses that are thought to spread mainly by droplets when people who are infected cough, sneeze or talk. Both flu and COVID-19 can be spread to others before infected people know they are sick.

There are also some key differences between flu and COVID-19 COVID-19 seems to spread more easily than flu and causes more serious illnesses in some people. It can also take longer before people show symptoms and people can be contagious for longer. Another important difference is there is a vaccine to protect against flu. There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.

While what will happen this fall and winter is uncertain, CDC is preparing for flu and COVID-19 to spread at the same time. Besides making people sick, this could result in a dangerous public health situation because both diseases can cause serious illness that might require hospitalization. Getting a flu vaccine provides the best protection against flu and is particularly important

tors' offices for flu treatment and testing, and fewer people will need to seek urgent medical care or be hospitalized with flu. These reductions in doctor visits and hospitalizations can help save medical resources needed for the care of COVID-19 patients.

CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older get their flu vaccine in September or October, or as soon as possible after that. Talk to your healthcare provider, pharmacy, or health department about getting your flu vaccine. Doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals are putting new procedures in place to keep people safe from COVID-19 during vaccination.

It's also important to continue social distancing, wearing a mask and washing hands often - all these actions help slow the spread of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 and flu.

Not sure where to get a flu vaccine? Visit vaccinefinder.org to find a vaccination location near you.

Source: BPT

OP-ED: Black Americans and COVID-19 Clinical Trials

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA Newswire

The unrelenting spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) throughout the United States of America in 2020, continues to pose an unprecedented public health crisis for all Americans, but in particular for Black Americans and other people of color who are disproportionately negatively impacted by COVID-19

As the trusted voice of Black America, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) in March of 2020 established the NNPA Coronavirus Task Force as a means of increasing public awareness about the overall preexisting health disparities in Black America and the disproportionately fatal consequences of COVID-19 for Black Americans and other people of color.

In fact, the NNPA and our Coronavirus Task Force were the first to issue a national “State of Emergency” declaration on April 3, 2020 to warn Black Americans and others about the evolving dangers and public health risks of COVID-19

Earlier this year, there were just too many myths and other misinformation circulating primarily via social media falsely asserting that “Black people and people of African descent were immune to COVID-19 because of the presence

of melanin.” Of course, that assertion is not true. Yet, unfortunately, too many people in our communities began to risk infection to COVID-19 because of falsehoods and misinformation.

The media has a responsibility to research and report the truth.

This year marks the 193rd year of the Black Press of America. Since Freedom’s Journal was first published in March of 1827, the Black Press has remained on the front lines of publishing and speaking truth to power by demanding freedom, justice and equality.

All of this brings me to state categorically, “Black Americans have to be involved at all levels of responding to the COVID-19pandemic. We cannot afford to be silent, detached, denied, or prevented from being at the decision-making tables in terms of COVID-19-based public health policies, research, clinical trials, remedies, and vaccine development. Our lives and future are at stake.”

The good news is that today there are many Black American physicians, infectious disease scholars, clinicians, medical researchers, nurses and others on the front lines as first responders and as leaders inside the major pharmaceutical companies that are striving to develop a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19

We are profoundly aware that within our communities there has been a historical and contemporary distrust of medical research. However, the challenge today is for more Black Americans to be involved at every point of the development of a COVID-19 vaccine to ensure that the medical rights and interests of Black Americans are thoroughly protected, respected, and addressed effectively and truthfully.

In other words, Black American engagement is crucial and critical in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine

— including participation in clinical trials — to make sure that the new vaccine is effective to prevent Blacks and others from COVID-19 infections.

Three years ago, the NNPA, Howard University and Pfizer collaborated to do a national landmark poll and study of awareness of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) among Black Americans. This was important because Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by SCD across the nation.

Included in that NNPA-Howard University-Pfizer poll was the issue of Black Americans’ willingness to participate in clinical trials with respect to SCD. We were pleased to learn and to document that 76% of the Black American poll respondents had positive or neutral attitudes toward SCD clinical trials, and a majority indicated a willingness to participate in future clinical trials for SCD, given appropriate knowledge and recommendations from health care professionals.

It is urgent that in the strategic rush to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine for all people, that Black Americans are not left out of the process. The health of our families and communities necessitates our involvement to raise all the questions that need to be raised, and at the same time to participate responsibly in the COVID-19 clinical trials.

The media has a responsibility to research and report the truth.