March was dedicated National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month in the United States in February 2000 by President Clinton and has since become a rallying point for the colon cancer community. Throughout the month thousands of patients, survivors, caregivers and advocates across the country wear the color blue in solidarity, fundraise and work to increase education and awareness around the disease.
This year the Colorectal Cancer Alliance has launched the “Don’t ASSume” campaign to challenge assumptions and misconceptions surrounding colorectal cancer, while dispelling myths, increasing awareness and uniting people across the country.
For those unfamiliar with the disease, colorectal cancer occurs in the colon or the rectum, parts of the large intestine, and is highly treatable when discovered early. African Americans suffer the highest incidence and mortality rates, and death rates in blacks are 40% higher than that of whites.
If you have a direct relative (parent, sibling or children) that has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer then you are are 2-3 times more likely to develop cancer than those without a family history. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States and is the leading cause of cancer-related death.
“Don’t assume you’re too young for colorectal cancer”, “Don’t assume you’re alone”, “Don’t assume we can’t beat colorectal cancer” and more are some of the slogans being used by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance during their Awareness month “Don’t ASSume” campaign and Black Doctor Org spoke with Michael Sapienza, the CEO of the CCA for more insight on their work.
“Our goal is to reach more men and African Americans with our marketing, currently our audience is about 70% women. With that we want to also focus on the Generation X demographic as they will be approaching screening age soon, and would likely be the ones to encourage their parents or loved ones to get screened as well” Sapienza told BDO.
Recently American Cancer Society lowered the recommended screening age for all groups from 50 years old to 45, but Sapienza and the CCA aim to get the conversation surrounding screening started at the age of 35, “if we want them screened at 45 we have to get them talking about it and motivated to get screened as early as possible”.
Another key aspect of the “Don’t ASSume” campaign is educating people on the risk factors associated with developing the disease, including high fat, low fiber diet, sedentary lifestyle and overall lack of awareness of screening. Sapienza also informed BDO about their work is done indirectly funding screening in underserved communities “we provide financial assistance for screenings as well as low cost and free screenings around the country”.
Currently, the CCA is seeking to partner with caregivers and hospital organizations as well as media and influencers to help spread awareness about their mission and upcoming activations. Show your support of Colorectal Cancer by wearing Blue in solidarity March 1st.
Dr. Kevin Kinney, board certified and licensed Chiropractic Physician featured on INSIDER.com, TheTodayShow.com & BlackDoctorsMatter.org. Connect with Dr. Kev at drkevinkinney.com or @DrDuval904
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