We can help save a life
Placing a check mark on line 1 of the Voluntary Contributions Schedule within the 2009 Michigan income tax form could help save a life.
Your donations to Amanda's Fund for Breast Cancer Treatment and Prevention will go directly to the Michigan Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP), which provides free breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to low-income women in Michigan.
Residents can give $5, $10, or more to this important fund.
"The BCCCP is able to screen 27,000 women eligible for the program with its current funding," said Janet Olszewski, Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) director.
"One hundred percent of your donations to Amanda's fund will go directly to the BCCCP, which will provide breast cancer screening, follow-up care, and cancer treatment to an expanded number of low-income women served through the program," Olszewski said in a statement.
The BCCCP is making a difference in Michigan.
Since the program's inception in 1991, more than 150,000 women have been screened for breast cancer with more than 2,400 breast cancers diagnosed. Without the BCCCP, many women would not have access to these life-saving services.
During the 2008 tax season, Amanda's Fund raised $71,628.
While MDCH is grateful for the generous donations made to the fund, the department needs the public's help to raise $100,000 this year.
If the fund raises less than $100,000, it will not be available as a tax check-off option next year.
Sen. Patty Birkholz, R-Saugatuck Township, introduced legislation for Amanda's Fund and Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed it into law in November 2007.
The bill was named for Sen. Birkholz's friend, Amanda Price, who has survived three battles with breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Michigan women, and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women in our state.
In 2006, 6,882 women in Michigan were newly diagnosed with breast cancer, with 1,456 women dying of the disease in 2007.
According to the 2008 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey results, women less likely to receive appropriate breast cancer screening are those with lower household incomes
Early detection is the key to survival.
With regular screening, breast cancer is more likely to be detected at an earlier age when it is most treatable. The Michigan Cancer Consortium recommends that average-risk women get an annual clinical breast exam and mammogram starting at age 40.
Although every woman is at risk of developing breast cancer, some factors increase a woman's likelihood of developing breast cancer.
These risk factors include:
- Increasing age.
- Early menarche (before age 12) or late menopause (after age 55).
- Never giving birth or having a first child after age 30.
- Use of hormone replacement therapy for more than five years.
- History of radiation exposure for Hodgkin's Disease or radiation of the thymus.
- Decreased level of physical activity, increase alcohol use (2-5 drinks/day), obesity, or high fat diet.
- History of previous abnormal breast biopsies.
- Strong family history that includes:
- Two or more relatives (on the same side of the family) diagnosed with breast cancer at any age.
- One relative diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age.
- A male relative diagnosed with breast cancer.
- Being a known or suspected carrier of either BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.
It is important for all women to take care of their bodies, especially when it comes to awareness and prevention of breast cancer and other diseases.
The Dickinson-Iron District Health Department has a Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP) for income-eligible women between the ages of 40-64.
For more information on this program contact the Health Department at 779-7237 in Dickinson County or (906) 265-4166 in Iron County.
