Event aims to improve outcomes for women of color with breast cancer Olivia Ray — WWLP

In every age group, black women are much more likely to die from breast cancer than any other racial or ethnic group.

BOSTON (WWLP) – In every age group, black women are much more likely to die from breast cancer than any other racial or ethnic group.

On Wednesday, a women lawmakers’ caucus held a breast cancer awareness event that drew attention to this disparity and discussed ways to address it.

Studies on this disparity found that it is not due to biology, but stems instead from systemic racism in healthcare that results in delays in diagnosis, less timely treatment, and inadequate support for survivors.

This difference in outcomes persists despite lower overall death rates. “We know that trend-wise mortality in breast cancer is actually going down. But we know that certain racial and ethnic groups and certain families are experiencing it very differently, and we still have a lot more work to do,” said Mark Kennedy of the Boston Commission on Public Health.

Michele Lopez is a breast cancer survivor. She says support groups with other women of color made a huge difference in her life during and after breast cancer.

“It’s terrible that when you’re going through things like that as a woman of color there’s no place to turn. There’s no support group, there’s nobody you can ask,” said Lopez. “It just opened my eyes to a bunch of women who really were there and who understood exactly what I was going through.”

Lopez is a member of Pink and Black, a campaign that focuses on better outcomes for ethnic minority breast cancer patients.

For more information on this organization, you can visit Pink and Black’s website.

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