Boston launches colon cancer awareness campaign focused primarily on Black community

An extensive communications campaign launched this week by the Boston Public Health Commission and the Colon Cancer Coalition aims to raise awareness about the different types of colon cancer screening and how to combat one of the few known preventable cancers. The purpose is

of the committee 2023 Boston Health Care Report The colorectal cancer death rate in 2021 was found to be the fourth highest, up from the second highest cancer death rate in 2020 and 2019. The report also found that the two groups with the highest mortality rates during 2019 were Black men and Black women. ~2021.

Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Executive Director of BPHC, explained that these statistics are exactly why this campaign is needed.

“Campaigns like this are critical to increasing health literacy across Boston,” she said. “Nationwide, the overall lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is 1 in 24, and it's preventable and treatable, so learning more about colorectal cancer is critical.”

Mr Ojikutu said another more worrying factor behind this campaign was the fact that recent trends were emerging. The number of patients is getting younger and younger If you are diagnosed with more advanced cancer. It is recommended that everyone over the age of 45 be screened once every 10 years, or more often if a cancerous growth or polyp is discovered during the screening and removed.

Mark Kennedy, who is spearheading the campaign at BPHC, said the main focus of the campaign was to have an alternative to colonoscopies, which many people dislike. He said there is resistance to “based” testing or FIT testing.

“[A colonoscopy] “That's the gold standard test,” Kennedy said.Average risk people, or those who don't know what their risk is, can also do her FIT [fecal immunochemical test] Start there. It is highly appreciated. ”

Kennedy said there are several “non-modifiable risk factors” for colon cancer that make some people more susceptible to developing it than others. In addition to diet and exercise being two major factors, Kennedy said he has a genetic disorder known as Lynch syndrome, which can be tested starting in his late teens, and has a family history of colon cancer. He added that this is a possibility. Lynch syndrome is possible, but even if you don't have the syndrome or have a history of it, your risk is increased.

Kennedy said the campaign will be citywide, but will focus on neighborhoods that are predominantly black and where Spanish and Haitian Creole are the primary languages ​​spoken.

“We tried to create a local flavor, so to speak,” Kennedy said. “And we chose champions, or people, who are very high-profile and well-known in each of these communities to help spread the word.”

The six champions are Boston University researcher Ibram X. Kendi; I was diagnosed with colon cancer in my 30s.; Alberto Vassallo, CEO of El Mundo Boston. Joan Winbush is a nurse who has worked at Codman Square Health Center for 31 years. Marta Rivera, commissioner of the Boston Youth and Family Center; Dufort Fleurissant, better known in Mattapan as “Pastor Keke,” is the founder of the True Alliance Center, which supports and advocates for recently arrived immigrants from Haiti. Brenda Lormil Raymond is an oncology nurse at Massachusetts General and an advocate in the Haitian community.

The seventh champion, Adjoa Anyane Yeboah, is a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General and through the recorded video, Kennedy said, she is “able to disseminate medical information as a practicing clinician.”

Video of the champions will be played in the waiting room and throughout Kennedy's presentation to the community, he said.

But the campaign doesn't end there. His PSAs on local newspaper ads, posters and postcards, social media, bus stops, radio, and “on the street” campaigns by Kennedy himself and other organizations such as Union His Capital His Boston and Youth His Advisory “Etc. The entire board of directors of BMC will be used to spread the word.

“We cover all communication channels,” Kennedy said.

Brian Mohr, a Boston resident who was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2020, estimates he has had one surgery and completed about 50 rounds of chemotherapy. He is still battling the disease.

“It's really important that people get screened, and even just a home test if they can do that,” Maule said. “So, I was diagnosed at 40, but my doctor said the cancer could have been growing for seven or eight years. So the guidelines say I should be tested at 45. If I hadn't started showing symptoms long before I was supposed to start, I wouldn't have known.

Maule said the BPHC campaign would highlight the seriousness of the risks of not getting tested, adding that the actor was diagnosed just a few months after being tested. chadwick boseman The famous Black Panther actor also died from the same disease.

“If you're not sure if you're at risk, just try it,” Mohr says. “Don't wait for famous people to die from it.”

WBUR and dorchester reporter News organizations form partnerships to share resources and co-produce stories.This story was originally published By Dorchester Reporter.