New Castle County kicked off Breast Cancer awareness month Monday morning.
County Executive Matt Meyer joined members of the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition to sign a proclamation naming October Breast Cancer Awareness month and to raise the breast cancer awareness flag outside of the New Castle County government building.
The American Cancer Society estimates over 1,000 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in Delaware, and there will be approximately 160 deaths.
Meyer says early detection saves lives, and notes men should be screened too.
“We can do better certainly in terms of survivability rates," Meyer says. "We can do better by contributing more to research and by coming together and saying this matters. It's impacting all of us.”
Nationwide, about 43,550 women and 560 men will die.
Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition CEO Vogel says screenings dropped significantly in recent years.
“As a direct result of the pandemic, Delaware has seen a 58% decline in breast cancer screenings," Vogel says. "Since then, our team has worked tirelessly to help our communities get back on track with prioritizing their health. During 2022, DBCC was able to help coordinate over 474 mammograms, provide 256 women with interpretation services in Spanish and Haitian Creole, and support over 2500 survivors with programs and resources throughout the state.”
These resources are available at debreastcancer.org.
Vogel says some of the biggest events throughout the state are Deer Park Goes Pink and the Midnight Oil Brewery 5k in Newark, the Monster Mile in Dover, and Dewey Goes Pink at the Starboard.