CLEVELAND — Numbers drive advocacy.
In Ohio, the mortality rate for Black people battling cancer is 6 percent higher than white people, according to the state’s department of health. It is statistics like this one that shed light on the importance of National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week.
It's an initiative started in 2021 by The FDA Oncology Center of Excellence as “a week-long social media campaign to increase cancer awareness in one of the most vulnerable segments of the US population.”
This year, National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week runs June 15-21, coinciding with Juneteenth.
Here in Northeast Ohio, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center has teamed with community partners to produce two virtual cancer awareness programs and offer screenings for breast and prostate cancer. 3News' Danielle Wiggins is the honorary chair for this year's awareness week.
There will also be people from Northeast Ohio sharing their stories.
"I had a cyst the size of a man's fist, and it was cancerous," says Andrea Mitchell, who is one of the 11,500 new cases of cervical cancer the CDC says is diagnosed each year.
Mitchell was diagnosed in 2009. She was a single mom in her late 30s at the time.
"People hear cancer and they're afraid."
That fear is understandable, especially for people of African descent. According to the National Library of Medicine, Black women are 41 percent more likely to develop cervical cancer than white women, and 75 percent are more likely to die from it.
In Ohio, the female breast cancer mortality rate is highest among Black women.
For Black men, they are more than two times more likely to die from prostate cancer than white men.
"Cancer does not always equal death," says Kris Austin of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Early detection really does help to save lives."
With early detection being key to increasing cancer survival rates, multiple organizations accross Northeast Ohio are collaborating with the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center to put on Black Family Cancer Awareness Week.
BLACK FAMILY CANCER AWARENESS WEEK EVENTS AND SCREENINGS
- The first event -- the ABC's of cancer in the Black community -- will be held Thursday, June 15 from 6-7:30 p.m. It's a virtual conversation about cancer screenings, how to access them and how to advocate for yourself. You can register for this event HERE.
- Screenings for breast and prostate cancer will take place this coming Monday (June 19) at Thirdspace Action Lab at 1464 East 105th Street in Cleveland from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Learn more about these screenings HERE. If you don't have health insurance, you can still get screened. The teams will work with you. You can call 216-368-5773 for more information about registering for prostate cancer screenings and 216.218.4521 to get more information about registering to have a mammogram.
- A virtual event (register here) will take place Wednesday (June 21) from 6-7:30 p.m. to discuss the fear and challenges you face when dealing with cancer.
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