Gilead Sciences: Connecting Breast Cancer Education to Community: Equal Hope

Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Wednesday, January 4, 2023, Press release picture

On any given day on the west side of Chicago, you might encounter something unexpected. Outside a retail store or hair salon, there may be a table providing breast cancer education and resources - and it's most likely staffed by Equal Hope, an organization that provides support and education for women facing or at risk of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Paris Thomas, PhD, Equal Hope's Executive Director, says this unconventional form of outreach is a vital part of what the organization does. "I think it's amazing that our health workers reach the community in places like that," she says. "You don't have to come to us, we'll come to you. This helps us have personal conversations where people feel comfortable to tell us their truth."

Equal Hope Addresses Cancer Health Disparities in Chicago
In a two-year period, from 2005 to 2007, published research showed Black women in Chicago had a 62% higher mortality rate than White women, Paris says. The statistic was shocking to her when she saw it, not just because of the number, but because it set Chicago apart - other major cities were not seeing the same level of disparity. When Equal Hope was founded in 2008, it was to tackle this issue from multiple angles: demanding that medical centers hire more skilled workers, educating the community around preventative care and early treatment, and urging the local government to invest more in underserved communities.

For Paris, this work has always been personal: She was born and raised in the west side of Chicago, and breast cancer runs in her family. Her mother is a two-time breast cancer survivor.

"As a Black mother myself, I saw my mother go through breast cancer and the struggles that came with that," says Paris. "I really connected to the mission and vision of Equal Hope to help underserved women access quality care."

Increasing Outreach Efforts
But that mission became more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, elective procedures were put on pause for a few months," explains Paris. "During that time, Black women who are particularly high-risk for breast cancers like TNBC were not being seen."

Two years in, that delay has continued, says Paris. Breast cancer centers are still catching up on their backlog, and COVID-19 safety protocols and understaffing slow down the care they can provide. For the community Paris and Equal Hope serves, this could have severe impacts.

"People aren't able to get the necessary timely screenings they need in order to detect cancer," says Paris. "And if you're not detecting cancer in a timely fashion, it's more likely to metastasize."

Equal Hope is trying to catch its community up. With support from Gilead, the organization has been able to increase outreach efforts and close the waiting gap between appointments and treatment that grew during COVID-19. But addressing the medical hurdles is only part of what Equal Hope does, which brings us back to the tables outside of salons and retail stores.

"Everyone has so many other things that they're focused on," Paris says. "But we want to keep it in the forefront of people's minds that preventative breast health screenings are still critical. We don't want a cancer diagnosis to be missed."

Read more Gilead community stories like Latinas Contra Cancer, a nonprofit advocacy organization raising awareness about cancer in the Latinx community.

Originally published by Gilead Sciences

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Gilead Sciences on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Gilead Sciences
Website: https://threeblpro.prod.acquia-sites.com/dashboard/gilead-sciences
Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Gilead Sciences



View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/733970/Gilead-Sciences-Connecting-Breast-Cancer-Education-to-Community-Equal-Hope

News Provided by ACCESSWIRE via QuoteMedia

GILD
The Conversation (0)
CHMP Adopts Positive Opinion Recommending Hepcludex®  for Full Marketing Authorization for the Treatment of Hepatitis Delta Virus

CHMP Adopts Positive Opinion Recommending Hepcludex® for Full Marketing Authorization for the Treatment of Hepatitis Delta Virus

-- If Granted by the European Commission, Hepcludex will Become the Only Approved Treatment for HDV in the EU --

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion for Hepcludex ® (bulevirtide) for the treatment of adults with chronic HDV and compensated liver disease, and recommended granting full Marketing Authorisation (MA) that is no longer subject to specific obligations. Bulevirtide was initially granted conditional marketing authorisation in July 2020 to provide people living with HDV urgent access to treatment. The CHMP recommendation for full Marketing Authorisation of bulevirtide follows the submission of the Phase 3 MYR301 Week 48 study data, which reinforces the efficacy and safety profile of bulevirtide for the treatment of HDV.

News Provided by Business Wire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
Gilead Remains Steadfast in Support for Hepatitis C Elimination Efforts

Gilead Remains Steadfast in Support for Hepatitis C Elimination Efforts

The recent national conversation on hepatitis C (HCV) is an encouraging step towards viral hepatitis elimination in the U.S. With its long history of leadership in viral hepatitis, Gilead continues to support efforts that focus on HCV elimination. Gilead is proud that its medicines have treated over four million individuals living with HCV globally. Today, some 2.4 million people are living with HCV in the U.S., even though ~95% of those treated with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are cured. Prices of HCV medicines have dropped significantly, and many acknowledge that price is not a barrier for most payers and patients. Curative HCV drug therapies are just one part of an elimination strategy that needs to dedicate considerable resources and attention to screening and linkage to care so that all patients in need of HCV treatment can access it in a timely manner and achieve a cure

News Provided by ACCESSWIRE via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
Gilead Sciences Announces First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Gilead Sciences Announces First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Product Sales Excluding Veklury Increased 15% Year-Over-Year to $5.7 billion

Biktarvy Sales Increased 24% Year-Over-Year to $2.7 billion

News Provided by Business Wire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
Gilead Sciences Releases Inaugural ESG Impact Report

Gilead Sciences Releases Inaugural ESG Impact Report

Gilead Sciences recently released its inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Impact Report. This is an evolution of our traditional Year in Review, and uses the ESG framework to highlight the successes and achievements of the prior year

Though the report itself is new, our commitment to practicing ESG is not: We've been guided by Environmental, Social and Governance principles for more than 35 years.

News Provided by ACCESSWIRE via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
abigail echo-hawk

CORRECTION: Contakt World Becomes Data Partner for Health Equity Tracker Project to Improve the Collection of De-Identified Racial & Ethnic Minority Data Using Smart Health RM, Engagency, and Future Services

Enables Contakt World mission to improve health equity and reduce disparities in the fight against Covid-19 and all diseases via award-winning SaaS platform

This document corrects and updates the final paragraph in the body of this news release. No other changes were required in this release.

News Provided by Newsfile via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less

Latest Press Releases

Related News

×