Congresswoman Hahn Introduces Resolution Raising Awareness of Alarming Mortality Rate of African-American Women with Breast Cancer

Statement

Today, Congresswoman Janice Hahn (CA-44) released the following statement regarding her newly introduced resolution recognizing the unjust disparity between the survival rates of African-American and white women with breast cancer:

"April has been designated Minority Health Awareness Month, and I want to shine a spotlight on a crucial minority women's healthcare issue -- the alarming mortality rate of African-American women from breast cancer. In the last few months, both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times featured articles about the disparity in mortality rates between African-American and white women with breast cancer.

"Much progress has been made over the last two decades to increase awareness, screening, and treatment of breast cancer, but unfortunately this progress has not been made for all women. In the 1980s, the mortality rate for African-American and white women were nearly identical. Yet today, shockingly, African-American women with breast cancer are 40 percent more likely to die of their disease than white women. Much of this disparity results from a lack of screening, access to life-saving treatments, and quality of treatment.

"Unfortunately, this disparity is even greater in some areas of the country. In my city of Los Angeles, sadly, an African-American woman with breast cancer is 70 percent more likely to die than a white woman. This is not true in other cities, such as New York, where the disparity is nominal, clearly demonstrating that public health improvements can be made to improve the survival rates for African-American women.

"Today, I introduced a resolution to highlight the high mortality rate for African-American women confronting breast cancer. My hope is that this resolution will bring awareness to this injustice to ensure that quality screening and treatment is available for all women, regardless of race. This is an issue of life and death and we must take every action available to ensure that every woman has access to the resources and treatment she needs to survive."

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