Jamaica Cancer Society and Pink Smile Promise Bring Smile to 100 Women in St. Ann

This year marks the second staging of the collaborative initiative between the Jamaica Cancer Society and the women of Pink Smile Promise, an organisation established in Charlotte North Carolina, to support the Jamaica Cancer Society’s Breast Cancer Prevention Programme. The programme donates mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies and treatment where necessary. The premise behind Pink Smile Promise is that through early detection, breast cancer can be treated, contributing to longer, healthier lives for Jamaican women. Laura Renegar and JoAnn Wilcox, along with Christie Mueller, all members of Pink Smile Promise, are here in Jamaica working alongside the Jamaica Cancer Society St.Ann/St. Mary Branch, to access the various communities where they will offer screening to 100 women living in underserved communities. Yesterday’s screening of the first batch of 25 women went very well. Through ultrasound screening two women aged 22 and 37 presented with masses in their breast tissues. Both these women will be referred to Dr. Ian Titus, volunteer with the Jamaica Cancer Society and Senior Medical Officer at the St. Ann’s Bay Hospital, for further evaluation. Mrs. Marilyn Williams, Manager of the Jamaica Cancer Society, St. Ann/St.Mary Branch shared her gratitude to the team from Pink Smile Promise, for their support as they advance and strengthen their community outreach. Mrs. Yulit Gordon, Executive Director, in her address to the team in St.Ann yesterday said, “Partnerships are critical to the success of any cancer prevention strategy. This collaboration with Pink Smile Promise has significantly strengthened the Cancer Society’s community outreach in this area. In 2016, 200 vulnerable women were screened under the programme. It is my hope that this collaboration will be further strengthened and expanded to more parishes in the coming years.” Mrs. Novlene Williams-Mills, volunteer with the Jamaica Cancer Society, Olympian and breast cancer survivor, endorsed the Pink Smile Promise initiative to provide free mammograms to 100 women in St. Ann. She further expressed gratitude to the women of Pink Smiles Promise for choosing her country, Jamaica, to carry out its mission and more importantly for allowing her to be a part of such a great cause. At the end of the day cancer does not care what month of the year it is and therefore we should not care either when getting our mammograms done. "Since 2016 the JCS Mobile Mammography Programme has been suspended while the Society seeks to raise One Hundred Million Jamaican Dollars (JAD100,000,000) to replace the now obsolete unit. This programme brought mammography screening to an average of 2000 women annually; these women living in underserved communities across the island".