ACAP recognizes need for annual breast checkups

  PRESQUE ISLE – Aroostook County Action Program (ACAP) and the Maine Breast and Cervical Health Program (MBCHP) recognize October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is dedicated to increasing public knowledge about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. The program was established to help women age 40 and older obtain no-cost breast and cervical cancer screenings. For those who qualify, MBCHP will pay for breast screenings, Pap smears and limited diagnostic or follow-up services. It’s simple, it’s free and it’s easy to enroll.   The MBCHP is a program of Aroostook County Action Program (ACAP), providing no-cost breast and cervical cancer screenings at their family planning sites in Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Houlton. Educational Services are also available throughout the community to help more women become involved in their health. To find out if you qualify for services or for more information about our educational services, call ACAP Health Services at 800-432-7881 or MBCHP at 800-350-5180.
  Since it’s inception in 1995, the MBCHP has made progress in the fight against breast and cervical cancer. However, there are still women who do not take advantage of early detection and others who do not get mammograms and clinical breast exams at regular intervals. Trends in data show women age 65 and older are less likely to get mammograms, even though breast cancer increases with age, and women below poverty level are less likely to have had a mammography within the past two years.  
  According to the American Cancer Society, “if all women age 40 and older took advantage of early detection methods – mammography plus clinical breast exam – breast cancer death rates would drop much further, up to 30 percent. The key to mammography screening is that it be done routinely – once is not enough.”
  Each year in Maine approximately 980 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 190 die annually. MBCHP estimates that 30,224 women are in need of breast cancer screenings.
  ACAP provides the people of Aroostook with services and programs in the areas of health, child and family, energy and housing, and employment and training.