We have a cure. Obamacare.
From Tara Culp-Ressler over at Think Progress…
In the 1980s, the mortality rate for breast cancer was about the same for white and black women. But since then, the breast cancer deaths among the two groups has widened dramatically — and today, black women are 40 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than their white counterparts.
This…
Although 70 percent of white women live at least five years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, that survival rate drops to just 56 percent for African-American women. “Despite 20 years of pink ribbon awareness campaigns and numerous advances in medical treatment that have sharply improved survival rates for women with breast cancer in the United States, the vast majority of those gains have largely bypassed black women,” the New York Times reports.
And this…
That’s largely because black women are less likely to have access to early screening and treatment, and have a lower rate of surgical intervention to stave off the disease. They’re twice as likely to suffer from genetic mutations that predispose them to breast and cervical cancers, but researchers say that isn’t enough to explain the huge gaps in mortality. Breast cancer is still diagnosed more frequently in white women.
And why Obamacare might change this…
Some stark differences emerge between states in this area. Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas currently have the largest gaps in breast cancer mortality rates, with disparities larger than 12 points. Massachusetts, on the other hand, has a gap of just over two points. Those numbers are directly tied to the number of low-income people of color who struggle to access health services, a population that’s more concentrated in the South.