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Newsroom YWCA of Greater Baton Rouge Every three minutes a woman in a state of shock and fear sits in a United States doctor's office and asks the question: Why me? These women have been diagnosed with the most common form of cancer in the United States and the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 65: breast cancer. Although leaps and bounds have been made in the advancement of breast cancer treatment, the best hope and opportunity women have for surviving this cancer is early detection.
The MDRT Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to the YWCA of Greater Baton Rouge in Louisiana, to support the Encoreplus program — a breast cancer and cervical cancer awareness program that encourages preventative women's health care in undeserved communities. This grant was sponsored by Robelynn H. Abadie, LUTCF, RCF, an 11-year MDRT member and Diamond Knight from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Since 1995, Encoreplus has reached more than 200,000 women and referred more than 28,000 women for mammograms and clinical breast exams in collaboration with local community health clinics and hospitals. Encoreplus outreach staff provide instruction in breast self-examination techniques and other educational resources to women who do not have any health insurance coverage and in many cases have no access to affordable health care. According to research by the American Cancer Society, the YWCA anticipates that 3,870 new cases of breast cancer will be detected in Louisiana this year and the lives of 740 women will be lost. "Louisiana has an inordinately high cancer mortality rate — among the highest in the nation. Lowering this rate can only be accomplished through the collaboration and hard work of caner-focused organizations in this state," wrote Lynn S. Weill, vice president for development and chief development officer of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. "The work that Encoreplus is doing to educate and screen so many women at high risk of developing cancer will play a large and significant role in the fight to lower our state's cancer mortality rate." The YWCA is a multicultural organization that has a long-standing history of creating and implementing programs that focus on eliminating racism and empowering women around the globe.
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