HEALTHY & HAPPY | NEWS resulted in, on average, the death of nearly five Black women on any given day. What accounts for this continued difference? The data show that while the rate at which Black women die from this disease annually did not change substantially in the past 20 years, the death rate for White women has steadily declined. Researchers conclude that White women benefited from advances made in screening and treatment, while Black women, who are disproportionately poor and uninsured or underinsured, did not. Even in cities where the disparity is smaller, the reason is chilling. “In Detroit there’s not a huge gap because there’s a horrible mortality rate for both Black and White women,” says Marc Hurlbert, Ph.D., executive director of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade. “White women have closed the disparity by doing as poorly as Black women,” notes Whitman. The researchers hypothesize that the persistent racial variations in breast cancer deaths are due to a lack of access to quality screening and treatment centers. “Disparity is overwhelmingly a matter of the socioeconomic status of a city but there’s also racism at play,” says Whitman. “We see that cities that have adequate services don’t have adequate avenues for Black women to gain access to these services.” Women who live in cities where public hospitals are few and far between
Our Breast Cancer Danger Black women have a much higher death rate from breast cancer than White women, but this wasn’t always the case. Find out why we’re losing ground to this deadly disease BY SHARON BOONE | ILLUSTRATION BY LULU
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n 2012 ESSENCE reported the results of a g roundbreaking study on the differences in breast cancer mortality rates between Black and White women in 24 of the country’s largest cities. In that study researchers from the Avon Foundation for Women and the Chicago-based Sinai Urban Health Institute confirmed that while fewer Black women are diagnosed with the disease, we die at much higher rates. Now the analysts are set to release the findings of further research into breast cancer disparities. The new study examines stats in 41 cities and looks at the figures over a 20-year period, from 1990 to 2009. Once again the conclusion was alarming. Racial disparities were found in 39 of the 41 cities, with 23 of them showing statistically significant inequalities. Even more worrying, 35 of the 41 cities saw an increase in disparity in the most recent period reviewed. “Back in 1990 nearly every city studied had very small or no disparities in breast cancer mortality,” says Steven Whitman, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Sinai Urban Health Institute and coauthor of the study. “But by 2009 we found substantial disparities in almost all the cities.” In fact, the imbalance had grown so large by then that it
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start off at a disadvantage, but even living near a large private hospital is no guarantee. “Many high-end medical centers don’t accept Medicaid, and that’s a problem that won’t be fixed by the Affordable Care Act, since many of the newly enrolled will be insured through Medicaid,” says Whitman. Whitman believes that in order to close this breast cancer gap, health care systems and local and state governments must work together. “This is a social and political problem, and it’s going to require social and political solutions,” he says.
DECREASE YOUR RISK
To lessen your odds of developing breast cancer, the Avon Foundation recommends the following: Maintain a healthy weight. Obesity, especially after menopause, is linked to higher risk. Regular exercise is also beneficial. Quit smoking and avoid exposure to secondhand smoke. If you are pregnant, plan to breast-feed. Experts advise nursing a newborn within an hour of giving birth, not supplementing with formula
while in the hospital and breast-feeding for at least six months. Be especially vigilant for five years after each pregnancy, when risk is slightly increased. Know what is normal for your breasts and discuss any changes with your doctor. For more information and resources, log on to avonfoundation.org.
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