Gabby in Ghana
star power takes world stage in fight for life
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And while initiatives on the part of women in the United States have received a great deal of attention, global efforts to stem the devastating effects of delayed diagnosis and treatment have largely gone underfunded and unnoticed.
As part of an effort to combat a disease that could claim an estimated 10 million lives globally in the next two decades, Gabrielle Union, Malaak Compton Rock and baseball legend Hank Aaron's wife, Billye traveled to Ghana and Tanzania with a delegation promoting the Circle of Promise campaign of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The campaign aims to extend the message of empowerment through breast health education beyond the African-American community to developing countries greatly in need of information and assistance.
The three women were part of a delegation which included physicians, researchers, advocates and breast cancer survivors. They participated in the Ghana Breast Cancer Alliance and symposium, as well as the opening of the HopeXchange Medical Center, a state-of-the-art breast cancer diagnostic and treatment facility.
In a culture where the social stigma of diagnosis can include divorce and loss of shares of communal property, education could make a difference in the estimated 70 percent of cases expected to occur in Third World countries, Africa in particular over the next 10 years.
