Two HHS agencies, the CDC and the National Cancer Institute, join with 15 other national organizations as co-sponsors of the October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of early detection of breast cancer. This year, National Mammography Day will be celebrated on Friday, October 18. On National Mammography Day, women across America are encouraged to receive or sign up for a screening mammogram or to make a commitment to get one. Breast cancer research and screening have been high priorities for HHS under Secretary Shalala. In 1993, she convened a conference to develop a National Action Plan on Breast Cancer, and implementation of the plan is being carried out through a public-private partnership led by HHS' Office on Women's Health.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women.
Although death rates from breast cancer have been declining in recent years, breast cancer accounts for 31 percent of all cancers among women. Epidemiologic studies estimate that breast cancer will be diagnosed in 1.5 million American women in this decade, and that breast cancer will claim nearly half a million lives. Death rates from the disease are highest among women aged 40 or older and black women as compared to white women for those aged less than 70 years. With proper screening and treatment, however, the chances of surviving breast cancer are improving. Despite these numbers, nearly half of women age 50 and older have not had a mammogram in the past two years.