Noting that early detection and prompt treatment can significantly reduce the suffering and death caused by breast cancer, the Hays County Commissioners Court proclaimed October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and urged all women age 40-plus to have annual mammograms. Screening mammograms are the single most effective method of detecting breast changes that may be cancer long before physical symptoms can be seem or felt, according to the American Cancer Society.
“The numbers are staggering,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe. “No one is untouched by the effects of breast cancer, whether personally or through a family member or friend. Every woman is at risk for breast cancer, even with no family history of the disease or other risk factors.”
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide and is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in Texas and the United States, with one woman diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes and one death reported every 13 minutes across the nation.
The proclamation notes that “a diagnosis is not a death sentence – breast cancer can be treated. There are 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States today as a result of increased breast cancer awareness.”