MGH· Revere HealthCare Center joins the city of Revere to recognize National Breast Cancer Awareness Week

REVERE — October 1, 1998 – More than 180,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer annually. Studies show that breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women age 35 to 54. These statistics have prompted a national endeavor to build awareness about the disease by declaring October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

MGH· Revere HealthCare Center has joined with Revere Mayor Robert J. Haas Jr. to bring this effort to the city of Revere with a day-long event called "Makin’ Waves on the Boulevard." The event, to be held Oct. 3 on Revere Beach Boulevard, will feature Grammy Award winners Thelma Houston ("Don’t Leave Me This Way") and Evelyn "Champagne" King ("Shame"). Other entertainment includes scenes from "David – The Musical," a Broadway-bound musical created by a trio of Revere residents.

Augusta Hicks Gale, RN, BSN, MPH, a breast cancer survivor and advocate, will speak about her experience with breast cancer. Education materials also will be available, as well as tours of the MGH· Revere’s mammography suite. Sponsors of Makin’ Waves include Stop & Shop, The Revere Journal and WBMX-FM (MIX 98.5). This event is a prelude to the Oct. 4 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

At the Makin’ Waves event, Mayor Haas will designate the third Friday in October as Revere Mammography Day. On this day, staff from the MGH· Revere’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Initiative (BCCI) will offer breast health education sessions as well as free mammography screenings for all city employees. Mayor Haas also hopes that community members, employers, physicians, churches, clubs and other organizations will encourage women of all ages to obtain information about mammography screenings and to seek appropriate services. "It is critical that all Revere employers join with me and involve their employees in National Breast Cancer Awareness Month – one of our nation’s most important public health initiatives," says Haas.

MGH· Revere provides free mammography and cervical cancer screenings as part of the MGH Health Associates Breast and Cervical Cancer Initiative. This initiative is part of the Mass. Department of Public Health’s Breast and Cervical Screening Collaborative (BCSC) in association with Dana-Farber Partners CancerCare. The goal of the collaboration, consisting of 14 community health centers including MGH· Revere, is to provide free screenings to 2,000 low income and uninsured women in the metropolitan Boston area this year.

According to Eileen Manning, clinical director of BCSC and coordinator of the six MGH Community Health Associates BCCI sites, the health center’s participation in the "Makin’ Waves on the Boulevard" event as well as its sponsorship of the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer teams is an important part of its mission to promote breast cancer awareness. "Events like this and our participation with the BCCI hopefully will increase awareness of breast cancer and show women the importance of early detection," says Manning. "Early detection is what saves women’s lives."

For more information about Makin’ Waves on the Boulevard, call (781) 485-6215. For more information about MGH Community Health Associates Breast and Cervical Cancer Initiative, call (781) 485-6215.

Contact: Victoria Brady in the MGH Public Affairs Office
or
Frederick J. Balboni, Jr., City of Revere (781) 289-8551

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