“Uterine fibroids are a health threat that urgently requires research, resources and improved treatment options.”
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Uterine fibroids, benign tumors that grow in the uterus and range from the size of a pea to a football or larger, affect an estimated 26 million American women between the ages of 15 and 50. Black women, who are most affected by fibroids, are nearly three times as likely to be diagnosed as white women and with more severe symptoms leading to increased hospital stays and infertility.
“There aren’t enough data to understand why black women have uterine fibroids more often and with more severe complications,” said Linda Goler Blount, President and CEO of the Health Imperative for Black Women (BWHI). “Uterine fibroids are a health threat that requires urgent research, community resources and improved treatment options to maintain fertility. BWHI supports this legislation because it increases funding for uterine fibroid research and leads to new evidence-based treatments and cures for women of color. ”
“The introduction of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Myoma Research and Education Act of 2021 is a monumental step for women and girls everywhere,” said Tanika Gray Valbrun, Founder and CEO of The White Dress Project. “There is still a lot of work to be done to address the uterine fibroid crisis. We need more education, more research and the full commitment of our policy makers to address health inequalities and understand why fibroids are disproportionately affecting black women.”
In addition to increasing funding for research, the Senate bipartisan bill would coordinate data collection on services for women with uterine fibroid symptoms, create a public education program to disseminate information on the incidence and prevalence of uterine fibroids in women – particularly with a focus on the increased risk in black women – and the treatment options available.
Both health initiatives will appear virtually on Capitol Hill along with the Society for Women’s Health Research July 27, 2021, which brings together patients and doctors from across the country on Speak Up Day to call for the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021 to be passed. This advocacy day coincides with the close of Myoma Awareness Month.
About the Health Imperative for Black Women:
Originally founded as the National Black Women’s Health Project in 1983, BWHI is the only national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of our country’s 21 million black women and girls – physically, emotionally, and financially. Our core task is to promote equal health opportunities and social justice for black women across their entire lifespan through politics, advocacy, education, research and leadership development. Further information is available at www.bwhi.org.
About the White Dress Project:
The White Dress Project is a patient advocacy organization committed to raising global awareness of the uterine fibroid (UF) epidemic through education, research, community and advocacy. We accomplish this mission by promoting research funding, highlighting reproductive health inequalities, educating many about fibroids and their treatment options, and strengthening a community that is committed to their best health choices and no longer suffers in silence with this chronic disease. www.thewhitedressproject.org.
Media contact (s):
Priscilla Clarke, Health imperative for black women, (202) 723-2200
Amber English Coleman, The White Dress Project, (612) 554-5705
SOURCE Health imperative for black women Black
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source https://livehealthynews.com/black-womens-health-advocates-applaud-legislation-to-address-the-uterine-fibroid-crisis/
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