MIAMI — Without insurance the average cost of a mammogram could be out of reach, but there’s good news for South Florida women who need a mammogram. Those who are living in Miami-Dade or Broward County whose income is low, or who are uninsured, may qualify for a mammogram through the services of the nonprofit Women’s Breast Health Initiative, based in Miami Lakes.
WBHI Founder Andrea Ivory says her organization has partnered with several leading hospitals and health services groups throughout Miami-Dade & Broward to provide qualified women with life saving mammograms.
“The best protection against breast cancer is early detection,” Ivory said. “Before you feel a lump is the point at which cancer is most treatable and beatable.”
The American Cancer Society recommends that women get annual mammograms beginning at age 40 and continue for as long as a woman is in good health. “It’s still the best way to screen for abnormalities,” Ivory said. “Mammograms can help detect about 80% of all breast cancers.”
Ivory’s own early breast cancer diagnosis saved her life and empowered her to launch the Women’s Breast Health Initiative in 2005. Since then she and her WBHI volunteers have gone door to door targeting underserved women in an effort to fight breast cancer one household at a time.
In 2009 Ivory was named a TOP 10 CNN Hero for her breast cancer prevention efforts. And since WBHI’s inception, her dedicated team of volunteers say they have knocked on more than 55,000 doors.
Pink & white billboards with the message “Breast Cancer Alert: A Mammogram Can Save Your Life” have been positioned in several underserved communities throughout Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
Ivory says she hopes to grow the organization “so that every woman, regardless of income, will have access to the early detection that could save their lives.“
For other information call 914-572-3671.
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