Frisco Enterprise > News
Partnership clears picture of breast cancer awareness
By Ren/e Caldwell
The clock is winding down on National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but Janelle Hail is nowhere close to calling a timeout.
Hail, founder and president of Frisco-based National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), in collaboration with Fujifilm, has launched a national public education campaign called Images of Health: Mammograms for a Million Moms.
The campaign, which educates woman on the importance of early detection, hopes to encourage a million women in the United States to pledge the time to have a mammogram.
Hail, herself a 26-year survivor of the disease, credits early detection to her survival. She started the foundation 15 years ago as a way to use her story to empower other women to take control of their health.
The foundation has set up a Web site, sponsored by Fujifilm, as an educational tool. The Web site, www.imagesofhealth.com, is an all-encompassing source where women can receive information on breast cancer, share stories, and find a mammography center in their area. Some centers offer discounted or free mammograms for women meeting certain criteria.
The Web site features videos and pictures as well as a downloadable brochure explaining the mammogram process. By showing the videos and educating women, the foundation strives to take the fear out of women's minds about the simple, quick test that could possibly save their lives.
Hail said the site is "a great way to enlist women into the whole idea of getting a mammogram, which is lifesaving."
Once making the decision to have a mammogram, women can logon to the Web site and complete their pledge. Family and friends may make pledges for others including wives, mothers, aunts, sisters, and other close ones.
An American Cancer Society study showed that mammography screening reduced breast cancer deaths by 63 percent.
Early detection is the key. Technology is steadily increasing and making it easier to detect issues before they advance.
The Food and Drug Administration approved digital mammography technology in June 2006.
Fujifilm, producers of the world's most widely used digital mammography system, has partnered with NBCF in the campaign for early detection by donating $250,000 and two of the recently approved digital mammography systems, Fuji Computed Radiography for Mammography.
Twelve percent of U.S. facilities are equipped with digital mammography units. The new machines will make it easier to detect breast cancer in younger women with dense breast tissue as well as early menopausal women. Test results are available more quickly also, since there is no film to develop.
In addition, Fujifilm is donating to NBCF a portion of the sales of two of Fuji's new cameras, both are pink.
"Fujifilm is proud to be spearheading Images of Health: Mammograms for a Million Moms, in collaboration with the NBCF," wrote Clay Larsen, vice president of marketing for Fujifilm Medical Systems USA. "If every screening-aged woman had a mammogram every year, tens of thousands of additional lives could be saved."
Hail expressed her enthusiasm about the partnership.
"We look forward to working with Fujifilm and spreading this message and saving lives through the Images of Health: Mammograms for a Million Moms initiative," she said.
For details about the National Breast Cancer Foundation, visit www.nationalbreastcancer.org.
Hail, founder and president of Frisco-based National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), in collaboration with Fujifilm, has launched a national public education campaign called Images of Health: Mammograms for a Million Moms.
The campaign, which educates woman on the importance of early detection, hopes to encourage a million women in the United States to pledge the time to have a mammogram.
Hail, herself a 26-year survivor of the disease, credits early detection to her survival. She started the foundation 15 years ago as a way to use her story to empower other women to take control of their health.
The foundation has set up a Web site, sponsored by Fujifilm, as an educational tool. The Web site, www.imagesofhealth.com, is an all-encompassing source where women can receive information on breast cancer, share stories, and find a mammography center in their area. Some centers offer discounted or free mammograms for women meeting certain criteria.
The Web site features videos and pictures as well as a downloadable brochure explaining the mammogram process. By showing the videos and educating women, the foundation strives to take the fear out of women's minds about the simple, quick test that could possibly save their lives.
Hail said the site is "a great way to enlist women into the whole idea of getting a mammogram, which is lifesaving."
Once making the decision to have a mammogram, women can logon to the Web site and complete their pledge. Family and friends may make pledges for others including wives, mothers, aunts, sisters, and other close ones.
An American Cancer Society study showed that mammography screening reduced breast cancer deaths by 63 percent.
Early detection is the key. Technology is steadily increasing and making it easier to detect issues before they advance.
The Food and Drug Administration approved digital mammography technology in June 2006.
Fujifilm, producers of the world's most widely used digital mammography system, has partnered with NBCF in the campaign for early detection by donating $250,000 and two of the recently approved digital mammography systems, Fuji Computed Radiography for Mammography.
Twelve percent of U.S. facilities are equipped with digital mammography units. The new machines will make it easier to detect breast cancer in younger women with dense breast tissue as well as early menopausal women. Test results are available more quickly also, since there is no film to develop.
In addition, Fujifilm is donating to NBCF a portion of the sales of two of Fuji's new cameras, both are pink.
"Fujifilm is proud to be spearheading Images of Health: Mammograms for a Million Moms, in collaboration with the NBCF," wrote Clay Larsen, vice president of marketing for Fujifilm Medical Systems USA. "If every screening-aged woman had a mammogram every year, tens of thousands of additional lives could be saved."
Hail expressed her enthusiasm about the partnership.
"We look forward to working with Fujifilm and spreading this message and saving lives through the Images of Health: Mammograms for a Million Moms initiative," she said.
For details about the National Breast Cancer Foundation, visit www.nationalbreastcancer.org.
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