TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance and IMMUNOMEDICS Bring a Breast Cancer Action Program to HBCUs
Black women under age 35 get breast cancer at twice the rate and die at three times the rate of White women. Towards that end, TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance is implementing a comprehensive communication campaign to educate young women on HBCU (Historically Black College and University) campuses on the importance of early detection, knowing your HERstory, the importance of clinical research and overall breast health. This program is powered by Immunomedics, a TOUCHBBCA ally.
Students from five HBCUs are working as interns to execute a social media campaign and serve as spokespersons on their campuses on breast health. These interns include Jade Bowers, Spelman College, Tayir Burroughs, Bowie State University, Lyric Burnett, Howard University, Kerrington Freeman, Florida A&M University, and Simone Tezzo, North Carolina A&T University. They have been using social media to engage their fellow students in candid conversations about the importance of breast self-examinations, early detection, genetics, clinical research and assessing their risk for breast cancer. The interns have developed content to share stories, discuss fears and pro-active actions they can take to maintain breast health. They have also developed best practices on how to have these important discussions around breast health with their peers.
Ricki Fairley, CEO of TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, says, “We are more than thrilled to do this work. We can’t emphasize enough the need for young women to pay attention to their breast health. Our interns are vocal champions among their peers to advance these important conversations and encourage our young people to take action. They are helping to support our TOUCHBBCA mission to eradicate Black Breast Cancer.”
The campaign launched on October 1st with the interns working to build an HBCU audience for a special HBCU episode of “The Doctor Is In” on October 14th episode of The Doctor Is In, our TOUCHBBCA weekly web series on BlackDoctor.org Facebook Live garnering weekly audiences of 30k+. The episode included personal stories, basic information on breast health, the importance of early detection, knowing your normal, self-advocacy and specific issues for young women including fertility, health insurance and access to care (https://www.facebook.com/BlackDoctor.org/videos/392261048845448). Featured speakers were:
· Dr. Lori Wilson, Associate Professor, Howard University College of Medicine and Chief, Surgical Oncology, Howard University Hospital
· Dr. Ogori Kalu, Breast Surgical Oncologist and Board Member of the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation
· Dr. Temeika Fairley, Senior Health Scientist, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Center for Disease Control, Women’s Health Leader, who leads the CDC Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women
· Shonte’ Drakeford, metastatic breast cancer warrior that was diagnosed at age 31 after 6 years of unsuccessfully seeking medical attention and not getting it because of her young age
· Arianna Apodaca, Patient Advocate who was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age 19. The content will include sharing stories, providing basic information on breast health, the importance of early detection, knowing your normal, self-advocacy and specific issues for young women including fertility, health insurance, and access to care.
The campaign will culminate with an episode on the TOUCHBBCA The Doctor Is In on BlackDoctor.org Facebook Live on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at 6pm EST. This episode will showcase the Team TOUCH Ambassador Interns, giving them a platform and audience to discuss their experiences talking about breast cancer amongst their peers. They will also share their best practices so others schools can benefit from their learnings.
We are confident that this program will reap benefits in educating the HBCU community via peer to peer communication and engagement regarding breast health.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 443-758-1924.
About TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance
Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance drives the collaborative efforts of patients, survivors, advocates, advocacy organizations, health care professionals, researchers and pharmaceutical companies to work collectively, with accountability, towards the common goal of eradicating Black Breast Cancer. Though there are numerous breast cancer advocacy groups and stakeholders, there is a need to bring all patients, survivors, advocates, advocacy organizations, health care professionals, researchers and pharmaceutical companies together to serve as allies in this army to fight Black Breast Cancer. No one entity can accomplish this alone. Our work requires collaboration, partnership, shared resources and consistent action, where we can share knowledge and hold each other accountable towards this critical goal.
About Immunomedics
Immunomedics is a leader in next generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology, committed to help transform the lives of people with hard-to-treat cancers.