Mass Breast Cancer Coaltion story. (Because issues matter.)

[TayTay]

I have spoken of Cheryl Osimo and her incredible story and her even more amazing and absolutely tireless advocacy for Mass Breast Cancer Coalition and the Silent Spring Institute. I love the woman and I adore her enthusiasm and commitment to her cause. Hey, that tall Senator from Mass, well I think it's "wicked cool" that he believes in that work as well and presents the findings from that work to the US Congress. (I love it when politics is about something, don't you?)

Disclaimer: I don't work for MBCC and they don't work for me. They are a non-partisan group that presses for change on their issues and work to promote better preventive health care for the women of Massachusetts and the nation. They don't do endorsements, they do advocacy based on their research and the facts.

Opinion: A personal race Against the Tide of breast cancer
By Diane Sokal/guest column
Thu Jun 12, 2008
http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/news/lifestyle/columnists/x955875315/Opinion-A-personal-race-Against-the-Tide-of-breast-cancer


Brookline -

In 2008, news coverage has been dominated by stories of great national and international importance: the presidential primaries; the war in Iraq; global oil and food prices; natural disasters in Asia. But important news from Massachusetts has not always received adequate coverage.

Massachusetts currently has the highest incidence of breast cancer in the nation. According to the latest statistics on the Web site of the National Cancer Institute’s State Cancer Registry, the breast cancer rate in Massachusetts is 14 percent higher than the national average, and 30 percent higher than the states with the lowest incidence rates. For in situ (non-invasive) breast cancer, the incidence in Massachusetts is more than double the rate in the five states with the lowest incidence. What is behind the elevated breast cancer rates in our state? Is our state’s superior medical system yielding increased diagnoses? Are local environmental factors causing the increased breast cancer risk for Massachusetts women?

The Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition is actively supporting scientific research studying possible environmental links to breast cancer. In fact, MBCC is the only nonprofit organization in our state with a mission to eradicate breast cancer by identifying and eliminating environmental toxins that can be linked to the dramatic increase in breast cancer. It is accomplishing this through activism, advocacy, research and education. In his recent book, “This Moment on Earth,” John Kerry honored the organization’s founders and their grassroots efforts since 1991 bringing political and scientific attention to the relationship between breast cancer and the environment.

More at the link above:

[beachmom]

1. I didn't know that Mass. women had such a high rate of breast cancer.

I remember reading about the group in TMOE. It is good that Kerry has recognized them, and that grassroots activists are getting involved.

I have a friend who got a rare cancer; she grew up in Pittsfield, MA and oftentimes drank out of the nearby brook, which we now know was polluted by the local manufacturing plant. Can't prove it, of course, but it is odd how much cancer has shown up in Pittsfield.