CIGNA Foundation Awards Grant to Support Affordable Breast Cancer Screening in South Florida

Feb. 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Miami, Florida / February 7, 2011 – The CIGNA Foundation has awarded a $5,000 one-year grant to the South Florida Cancer Association to support Project SCREEN, a program that provides early detection breast cancer screening to women residing within the underserved and economically disadvantaged areas of Miami Dade County.  It is the first year that the program has received CIGNA Foundation funding to support its work on this important health issue, and in recognition of the excellence of the program.

“The CIGNA Foundation supports charitable organizations that encourage people to actively engage in their health and provide the services people need to help improve health.  We are impressed by the South Florida Cancer Association’s commitment to help low-income women get early preventive care, and are pleased to have the opportunity to support Project SCREEN,” says Gianna Jackson, Executive Director of the CIGNA Foundation.

Funding from the CIGNA Foundation will make available affordable or no cost early detection breast cancer screening to women who otherwise would be denied access to it. Project SCREEN will: 1) make available affordable early detection cancer screening; 2) provide follow up testing and additional screening if necessary; 3) provide transportation to and from screening and treatment if required; and 4) provide child-care services during screening.

Since July of 2009, the South Florida Cancer Association through Project SCREEN, has provided more than 1,000 women with affordable early detection of breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the U.S., and the leading single cause of death overall in women between the ages of 40 and 55.  Every year sees an increase in the number of new cases of breast cancer as well as the number of those whose lives breast cancer has claimed.  Nationwide, there is a new diagnosis every three minutes and a death from breast cancer every fourteen minutes. While advances have been made in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure, early detection still affords the best opportunity for successful treatment.  Programs such as Project SCREEN help ensure that those women who live in our economically disadvantaged communities have access to early detection of breast cancer.

“We are proud that the CIGNA Foundation shares our mission and has chosen to support our program.  Our partnership with CIGNA allows our organization to be able to reach out and empower more of the underserved women within our communities in becoming proactive with their breast health,” says Mr. Eddie Dutton, Executor Director of the South Florida Cancer Association.

For more Information

For more information about Project SCREEN or the South Florida Cancer Association, please call Mr. Dutton at (786) 319-6912 or go to www.sflca.org.

To learn more about CIGNA's commitment to healthy communities, visit, http://www.cigna.com/about_us/community/index.html.

# # #

The South Florida Cancer Association is a community-based 501(c)3 organization dedicated to providing cancer-related information and support to the underserved communities of South Florida.