PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Black women in Hampton Roads are dying from breast cancer 51 percent more often than white women.
Susan G. Komen ranks the Virginia Beach/Norfolk region as number 5 out of the 10 metropolitan areas with the largest racial disparities.
On Tuesday, the organization announced a new goal and campaign aimed at reducing the number of women dying.
The campaign is called “Know Your Girls” and the goal is to cut in half the number of black women dying from breast cancer by the year 2026
Dr. Lori Wilson told WAVY.com, “It is often diagnosed younger, it’s diagnosed in more aggressive forms and often times it’s a later stage.”
Nikkia Hammonds Blakely is a perfect example.
“I was diagnosed when I was just 16 years old, a sophomore in high school, no family history,” Blakely said.
18 years later she was diagnosed again in her other breast.
“It’s just you’re never too young, you’re never too old to simply know your own normal, that’s why we’re excited about the campaign,” she said.
A public service announcement released Tuesday aims to educate black women about their risks.
There’s also an interactive website offering tools to help women get to know their risks, how to talk to their doctor and to help them get access to quality care through local resources they can tap into.
“Breast health is an important fact to black women, but when we look at the statistics they are less likely to talk about it and they are less likely to engage with those around.” Dr. Wilson said.
They hope these efforts will help close the gap of racial disparity, saving more women like Nikkia.
“Today, being age 40, having survived breast cancer twice, and having been in the fight for 24 years, I feel like I’m the living proof of the benefit of early detection.”