Percent Receiving Breast Cancer Screenings

Some racial and ethnic categories are suppressed for privacy and to avoid misleading estimates when the relative standard error exceeds 30% or the unweighted sample size is less than 50 respondents. Data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey (BRFSS) Data Why This Matters Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) and the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. Breast cancer screenings can save lives by helping to detect breast cancer in its early stages when treatment is more effective. While non-Hispanic white women and AFAB individuals are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than their counterparts of other races and ethnicities, non-Hispanic Black women and AFAB individuals die from breast cancer at a significantly higher rate than their counterparts races and ethnicities. Later-stage diagnoses and prolonged treatment duration partly explain these disparities in mortality rate. Structural barriers to quality health care, insurance, education, affordable housing, and sustainable income that disproportionately affect communities of color also drive racial inequities in breast cancer screenings and mortality. The District Response Project Women Into Staying Healthy (WISH) provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings to uninsured or underinsured women and AFAB adults aged 21 to 64. Patient navigation, transportation assistance, and cancer education are also provided. DC Health’s Cancer and Chronic Disease Prevention Bureau works with healthcare providers to improve the use of preventative health services and provide breast cancer screening services. DC Health maintains the District of Columbia Cancer Registry (DCCR) to track cancer incidences, examine environmental substances that cause cancer, and identify differences in cancer incidences by age, gender, race, and geographical location.