NEW YORK CITY - The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) today announced it performed nearly 90,000 mammograms in 2006 - a 12 ½ percent increase from 2005 - and found nine percent more early-stage cancer, the stage where there is a better prognosis for successful treatment. In an effort to reach even more women, HHC is launching a public health campaign to raise breast cancer awareness in recognition of Mother's Day, and to encourage women over 40 to get an annual mammogram at any of HHC’s hospitals, diagnostic centers and partner facilities on Staten Island. The citywide campaign will feature multi-language print and radio advertising and directs the public to “Dial 3-1-1” or visit nyc.gov/hhc to learn where they can get the low- or no-cost screenings.

“This Mother’s Day all New Yorkers should have a heart-to-heart talk with the most important women in their lives about getting screened for breast cancer,” said HHC President Alan Aviles. “One of the most important gifts you could give to that special woman in your life could be a mammography screening appointment. Mammograms are one of the best methods for early detection of breast cancer and they help to save lives."

A woman’s chance for developing breast cancer increases with age. It is recommended that women over 40 get a mammogram every year, a breast examination by a doctor annually and perform monthly breast self-examinations. HHC’s mammography screening rates exceed the national average – with 81 percent of women over 40 getting screened versus 75 percent nationally. According to the City Health Department, breast cancer kills about 1,260 women in New York City every year and approximately 23percent of women 40 and older have not had a recent mammogram. A recent American Cancer Society report noted that breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women other than skin cancer and is the second leading cause of death after lung cancer. Approximately 178,000 women nationwide will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2007. Today 88 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer live at least five years after the diagnosis, and more than half - 63 percent - live 20 years after their diagnosis.

To help raise breast cancer awareness, HHC’s Mother’s Day Mammography Campaign will include:

• Multi-language radio and print advertisements that will appear for two weeks before Mother’s Day on radio stations and in ethnic publications across the city; and

• Multi-language flyers to be distributed by HHC's outreach staff.

All HHC facilities work closely with the Healthy Women's Partnership Program to extend no-cost mammograms to women who qualify. Additionally, HHC facilities use digital mammography systems that produce digital breast images through computerization rather than traditional X-ray film, substantially increasing image resolution and reducing delays in generating results. To learn more about breast cancer screening and mammograms and to view our ads, you can visit HHC's Web site at nyc.gov/hhc.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest municipal hospital and health care system in the country, is a $5.4 billion public benefit corporation that serves 1.3 million New Yorkers and nearly 400,000 who are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community based health centers. For more information about HHC, visit nyc.gov/hhc.