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Some 25 years after launching what turned into a major breast cancer awareness program on Long Island, two prominent advocates said Monday that the movement has made great strides, but there is still much to do.
Geri Barish and Lorraine Pace said the biggest achievement of this effort had been to alert more women for them to undergo early screening tests, including mammograms, that can save their lives.
"We live longer. Because of the awareness, we are saving more lives, "said Barish, who founded Advocacy Group 1 of 9 The Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition Monday at the Nassau University Medical Center.
Pace, founder of the Mapping Project, in which cases of cancer have been mapped, house after house, in her West Islip community, said breast cancer on Long Island was still there. Young women contract this disease. We need to do more studies, better studies as we did in 1992, postal code by postal code. "
Long Island was once considered to have the highest breast cancer rates in the state. Today, the figures have dropped, but remain high and are a source of concern, officials said.
Of 62 state counties, Nassau ranks seventh for breast cancer incidence, while Suffolk ranks 17th in the 2011-2015 age-adjusted health department rates, recent years available.
The two counties combined account for 16% of the state's breast cancer totals.
According to the National Cancer Institute, one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. There are more than 3 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
On Monday, NUMC announced that it was appointing a 3D breast cancer detection vehicle after Barish. The bus-sized vehicle, which according to hospital officials contains state-of-the-art detection equipment, costs around $ 350,000 and will go to hundreds of communities to provide screening.
The authorities also praised former senator Alfonse D'Amato, who helped enact a law more than two decades ago, requiring insurance companies to cover procedures such as mammography.
"We are here to say with one voice: Early detection can save your life," said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
George Tsunis, chairman of the NUMC board, said breast cancer was a major concern. "There has been less impact on the Long Island community than breast cancer," he said. He noted that the hospital serves many low-income residents and "sometimes it's the last place where people can get care."
Barish said she was surprised and delighted that the vehicle bears her name. "I'm so excited," she told a crowd of public officials, medical staff and cancer survivors. "I have never had a van named before me."
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