Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation joins the global movement on World Cancer Day
TORONTO, Ont., February 4, 2015 – Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) unites with the global cancer community to raise awareness on World Cancer Day about the actions being taken towards reducing the incidence of breast cancer, reducing breast cancer mortality and improving quality of life for those affected by the disease. As part of this year’s World Cancer Day theme ‘Not Beyond Us,’ CBCF wants to highlight the initiatives it has developed that contribute to the achievement of this goal.
“Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women with more than 24,000 women in Canada diagnosed each year,” says Sandra Palmaro, co-CEO, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. “We have made tremendous progress in the last 30 years. Women are living longer and healthier lives thanks to advancements in early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and as a result, mortality rates in Canada have declined by 43 per cent, but there is more work to do to reduce incidence, mortality and quality of life for women and men living with breast cancer.”
CBCF launched a national breast health program in January to empower women to make healthy lifestyle choices to help reduce their risk of breast cancer or recurrence. With 1/3 of breast cancers preventable by living well, CBCF’s #OneNewThing breast health planning tool provides women the opportunity to proactively create their own breast health plan. This online interactive resource provides women with information and tools they need to make changes that will help reduce their risk of breast cancer. Women can also post and share personal stories about the changes they have made to improve their breast health.
Advocating and promoting early detection and regular mammography screening is another area where education and information is critical. Scientific evidence has proven that the earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the better the outcome, yet many women are confused about the benefits and limitations of mammography screening, what age to start, where to go, and how to determine if they are at higher risk than the average women. The CBCF Facebook community, My Breast My Test, provides women a forum to share their experiences and concerns, get factual information and ask questions.
CBCF’s commitment to fund research across the breast cancer spectrum includes improving the quality of life for breast cancer patients, their families and caregivers. For example, CBCF-funded researcher, Dr. Jennifer Jones, is evaluating the feasibility of an innovative smartphone enabled health coaching intervention called iMove to promote long-term maintenance of physical activity for breast cancer survivors.
To find out more about CBCF-funded breast cancer research, visit www.cbcf.org
To support World Cancer Day 2015, use and follow the hashtags #WorldCancerDay and #NotBeyondUs on your social networks.
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For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Nicole Curling
Senior Manager, Communications & Government Relations
ncurling@cbcf.org
416-815-1313 ext. 899
About the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation is the leading community driven organization in Canada dedicated to creating a future without breast cancer. Our investments in innovative and relevant research and education have led to progress in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. Since 1986, we have been at the forefront of a nationwide movement supporting and advocating for the breast cancer community.
