October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Gov. Eloy S. Inos and Lt. Gov. Jude U. Hofschneider pose with members of the Commonwealth Cancer Association and lawmakers after signing a proclamation designating October 2014 National Breast Cancer Awareness early Tuesday morning at the Governor’s Office conference room. (Mark Rabago)

Pink was the color of day at the Office of the Governor’s conference room Tuesday morning when Gov. Eloy S. Inos and Lt. Gov. Jude U. Hofschneider declared October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In signing the proclamation, Inos and Hofschneider urged all women and men in the CNMI to discuss a preventive and screening program with their health provider and become aware if they are at risk of breast cancer.

Nationally, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, exceeded only by lung cancer. The chance of developing invasive breast cancer at sometime in a women’s life is about 1 in 8.

The proclamation signing was attended by dozens of CCA volunteers and lawmakers, some of them gamely wearing the “Biba Susu” pink T-shirts. Pink balloons and ribbons festooned the venue.

CCA treasurer Maggie Camacho shared her story as a cancer survivor at the proclamation signing. “I am a breast cancer survivor and…I would like to thank all of you for showing up this morning for giving support to this very worthy cause. …Breast cancer is the leading type of cancer in the CNMI and it’s still growing because of the fact that a lot of our people fear being identified as such. …I hope that we us a community would continue to address this and help us in our endeavor [to] diminish the number of cancer cases in our Commonwealth.”

Camacho said that cancer awareness in the CNMI will also get a boost with the recent signing of a law increasing the cigarette tax by 75 cents a pack.

“We hope with the recent infusion of additional money for the cancer programs, we will be able to reach out to more people. We need to identify them and see how we can help them in anyway—get them to the hospital, get them the tests they need to see what kind of cancer they have. We also want to see how we can help them financially or any other services we can provide. If they don’t have a car, we hope to provide them transportation to the hospital. If they don’t have money or insurance, we want to see how we can help them get these preventive measures,” she added.

CCA program manager Juan L. Babauta applauded the governor and members of the Legislature for supporting breast cancer awareness and the passage of the cigarette tax. He said some lawmakers are even discussing crafting a new law outlawing betel nut chewing among the youth.

The governor chimed in on the discussion, saying that legislating against betel nut chewing among the islands’ youth would be a big challenge.

“I think it’s going to be a tough one. Betel nut is readily accessible even outside commercial establishments. Unlike cigarettes, which are manufactured and controlled, betel nut can be grown in the backyard,” said Inos. “Still there’s no excuse for us not to do it. There’s sufficient evidence of the negative effects of chewing. We got to find a way to be able to limit or restrict access [to betel nuts].”

Babauta said CCA recently partnered with dental clinics in an effort to educate people on the health dangers of betel nut chewing. “Dental clinics have been recording and tracking down visits. People are also taking advantage of oral screening. Add to this, we’ve put together a plan to address breast and oral cancer and to get additional funds for cancer prevention.”

The proclamation signing was attended by Reps. Edmund Villagomez (Cov-Saipan), Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan), and Janet U. Maratita (Ind-Saipan).

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, an estimated 232,670 new cases of female breast cancer will be diagnosed and 40,000 females will die from the disease.

Additionally, while rare in men, an estimated 2,360 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 430 will die each year.