RPM Health District offers free/low-cost mammograms

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is recognized that breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in America, other than skin cancer. The Rutherford-Polk-McDowell (RPM) Health District offers free or low-cost mammograms to eligible women through our Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP). Call us today at 828- 894-8271 to see if you qualify. 

The RPM Health District is encouraging women to take responsibility for their breast health and are urging them to have their screening mammogram performed. Mammography is the best available method to detect breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stage, an average of one to three years before a woman can feel a lump. Mammography also identifies cancers too small to be felt during a clinical breast examination.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women in North Carolina. Each year over 6,000 North Carolina women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and over 1,000 will die from the disease. As we know, early detection is any woman’s best protection against cancer.

Although there is no sure way to prevent breast cancer, a woman might reduce her risk by changing those risk factors that can be changed. For example, women can avoid alcohol, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy body weight. In addition, regular screening tests can help women and their doctors ensure they are healthy and increases the likelihood that their doctor will find breast cancer early, when it’s most treatable.

There is no better time than October, during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for women to talk with their health care providers about maintaining their breast health and seeking mammography. 

“Remember, early detection can save lives,” said Nickie Day, BCCCP Coordinator and Public Health Nurse at the RPM Health District. For more information, please call 828- 894-8271 or visit our website at rpmhd.org.

– article submitted by Yanet Cisneros