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Home News Avon breast health outreach program awards grant to BHOP

Avon breast health outreach program awards grant to BHOP

Published: Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Local Organization Recognized With Support From National Program

 

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program has awarded a $65,000 one-year grant to the Breast Health Outreach Program (BHOP) at The University of Tennessee Medical Center Cancer Institute to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer. It is the 9th year that the program has received funding from the Avon Foundation for Women to support its work on this important health issue and in recognition of the program’s excellence.

BHOP at the University of Tennessee Medical Center will educate area women in 21 rural and remote counties in eastern Tennessee and refer them to low-cost or free mammograms and clinical breast exams in their own communities. This vital program will also provide free comprehensive education programs emphasizing the importance of the early detection of breast cancer.

Since 1996, BHOP at the UT Medical Center Cancer Institute has reached more than 20,000 women with crucial information about the importance of early detection of breast cancer and has referred a similar number of women for mammograms and clinical breast exams.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the United States, and the leading single cause of death overall in women between the ages of 40 and 55. According to the American Cancer Society, 4,700 new cases of breast cancer will be detected in Tennessee this year and 890 lives will be lost. Nationwide, there is a new diagnosis every three minutes and a death from breast cancer every 14 minutes. While advances have been made in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure, early detection still affords the best opportunity for successful treatment. Programs such as UT Medical Center’s BHOP help ensure that all women have access to early detection information and options, even poor and medically underserved women.

“Many factors, such as fear, keep women from practicing good breast health,” says Dr. John L. Bell, director of the Cancer Institute at UT Medical Center. “There is a tremendous need to reach women with information and resources,” adds Bell. “We are grateful that the Avon Breast Health Outreach Program shares this mission and has chosen to support our program.”

Since 1993, the Avon Foundation has awarded more than 1,425 grants to community-based breast health programs across the United States, including the Breast Health Outreach Program at the UT Medical Center Cancer Institute. These programs are dedicated to educating underserved women about breast cancer and linking them to early detection screening services.

The Avon Foundation for Women and Breast Cancer Crusade
The Avon Foundation for Women, an accredited 501(c)(3) public charity, was founded in 1955 to improve the lives of women and today is the world’s largest corporate-affiliated philanthropy focused on issues that matter most to women. Avon philanthropy focuses its funding on breast cancer research and access to care, efforts to reduce domestic and gender violence, its women's environmental movement to nurture nature, and efforts to provide relief and recovery in times of major natural disasters and emergencies. Since the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade launched in 1992, Avon breast cancer programs in more than 50 countries have raised almost $700 million for research and advancing advance access to care, regardless of a person’s ability to pay. In addition to receiving generous support from Avon Products, Inc., and its sale of Avon “pink ribbon” products, the Foundation raises funds through a variety of events and walks, such as the U.S. Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series, which is the Foundation’s largest fund-raising source.

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program
The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program is administered by Cicatelli Associates Inc. to support community-based, non-profit breast health programs across the country. The Fund's National Advisory Board selected the Breast Health Outreach Program at the UT Medical Center Cancer Institute as one of 125 new grant recipients nationwide in the 2011 cycle of Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund grants. These organizations were chosen based on their ability to effectively reach women, particularly minority, low-income, and older women, who are often medically underserved.

For more Information
For more information on the UT Medical Center Breast Health Outreach Program, please call 865.305.9753. For more information about breast cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at 1.800.ACS.2345 or www.cancer.org, or the National Cancer Institute at 1.800.4.CANCER or www.cancer.gov.  

To learn more about the Avon Foundation for Women, call 1.866.505.AVON or visit www.avonfoundation.org, where you can access free printable Breast Health Resource Guides in English and Spanish. For information or to register or support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer events, visit www.avonwalk.org or call 1.888.540.WALK.