Mrs. Watson also helped others in the area by driving them to doctor appointments and grocery shopping for those who were unable to. An estimated three million women in the U.S. today are living with breast cancer, two million have been diagnosed with the disease and one million have the disease but do not yet know it. The incidence of breast cancer in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past 30 years. In 1964, the lifetime risk was 1 in 20. Today it's 1 in 8.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in America and worldwide.
It is estimated that 1.2 million new diagnoses and 500,000 deaths from breast cancer will occur worldwide this year. With the Scott-Webb Clinic in Hartland, which provides free healthcare services to residents who have no insurance, clinic doctors will be able to recommend mammorgrams to their patients who would otherwise be unable to have this important screening. Even now, Mrs. Watson is touching the lives of people in a positive and meaningful way. In the summer of 2002, SVH will open its new Outpatient and Women's Health Center in Pittsfield.