This October, organizations across the country will follow in the footsteps of the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen Foundation and bring the fight against breast cancer to the forefront of our society. This year, the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign celebrates 23 years of educating the population about the awareness and prevention of the disease.

Since our inception in 2002, Onward Healthcare has devoted much our our corporate charity efforts to the fight against breast cancer.  For the forth year in a row, members from Onward’s corporate offices across the country, as well as many of our nurses and allied health professionals, will take part in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks to raise money for education and research.  Making Strides is a series of nationwide noncompetitive walks, which raised over $50 million towards the fight against breast cancer in 2007.

Breast cancer remains one of the most prevalent and rapidly increasing causes of death among women, as well as a rising number of men.  Each year, roughly 203,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, while 40,000 will die.

If detected early, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer patients exceeds 95%. While mammograms continue to be the best early detection method, over 13 million U.S. women 40 years of age or older have never had one. Thus, we encourage all of our healthcare professionals to stress the importance of early detection to your family, friends and colleagues through mammography screenings, clinical breast examination, and self-examination.

Of course, while breast cancer education is emphasized throughout the month of October, ongoing prevention is critical to the all-around health and wellness. Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and a smoke-free lifestyle are all key factors to avoiding breast cancer. However, a healthy lifestyle is not the only key to prevention.  Regular visits to your physician, as well as a thorough understanding of your family’s history with breast cancer are also important factors in fending off the disease.

We encourage all readers to visit the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides site, to learn more about the walks in your area.  Or, if you would like to make a contribution to the Onward Healthcare team,  please visit our Onward for a Cure page.