National Health Advocacy Group Kicks Off Global Campaign to Combat Breast Cancer

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thousands of survivors, health care professionals, and community organizers are rallying this Breast Cancer Awareness season — from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to Traverse City, Mich., and from Puebla City, Mexico to Besançon, France — to share the lifesaving message of prevention with women everywhere.

Led by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a health advocacy nonprofit of 17,000 doctors, the Let’s Beat Breast Cancer campaign is again this year raising awareness of strategies that can help prevent breast cancer. Dozens of free rallies planned in the United States and across the world will feature performances by local marching bands, testimonials from those impacted by breast cancer, plant-based food samples, fitness classes, giveaways, and more.

The National Cancer Institute reports that 1 in 8 women born in the United States today will develop breast cancer, and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women have a disproportionately high breast cancer death rate.

The Physicians Committee encourages people to reduce breast cancer risk by following the research-backed four-pronged approach:

• Eat a whole food, plant-based diet.
• Exercise regularly.
• Limit alcohol.
• Maintain a healthy weight.

It’s a strategy the American Medical Association recently endorsed. In June, a policy was drafted by Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Committee and Alternate Delegate to the AMA for the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, that calls on physicians to regularly discuss with patients the lifestyle changes that can help prevent breast cancer, including getting regular physical activity, limiting alcohol, maintaining a healthy body weight, and eating a plant-based diet.

Across the country, city leaders are also getting on board with the message. The mayors of Seneca, S.C., Paterson, N.J., Gig Harbor, Wash., and Austin, Texas, and many more to come, have issued proclamations this year for Let’s Beat Breast Cancer.

Research and leading disease-prevention agencies also support the four-pronged prevention approach. Studies show consumption of vegetables, fruits, and soy products, as well as increased fiber intake, is associated with reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Additionally, the National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Institute for Cancer Research, and other authorities have determined that individuals may reduce their risk of breast cancer incidence and/or mortality by maintaining a healthy body weight, limiting alcohol intake, and engaging in regular physical activity.

For more information on the steps women can take to decrease their chances of developing breast cancer, and to find a rally near you, visit www.LetsBeatBreastCancer.org.