October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is celebrated every October, aims to promote the screening and prevention of the disease that affects one in eight women and 2.3 million women worldwide every year.
October has a different meaning to each of us — some wear pink to support, some quietly observe the month, some feel sadness, and some feel unseen or misunderstood. Breast Cancer Awareness Month can be a good reminder to learn more about breast cancer, the risk factors for you and your loved ones and how to minimize them, as well as the importance of being screened for the disease.
Known best for its pink theme color, the month features several campaigns and programs conducted by various groups ranging from breast cancer advocacy organizations to local community organizations to major retailers. These efforts aim to support people diagnosed with breast cancer, educate people about breast cancer risk factors, and highlight the importance of regular screening.
The story of pink ribbons
Breast Cancer Awareness Month began in 1985 as a week-long awareness campaign by the American Cancer Society. In the course of time, it extended to a month-long event. In 1992, the pink ribbon came into play.
The initial use of ribbons for specific causes dates to 1979, when the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" inspired Penney Laingen. At the time, her husband was a prisoner of war and she wanted to display yellow ribbons around trees as a symbol of hope.
Did you know that the breast cancer awareness ribbon almost wasn't pink? The first grassroots effort by Charlotte Haley began with handmade peach-colored loops. With a strong family history of breast cancer, she wanted to promote breast cancer awareness.
At the same time, the Editor in Chief of the SELF magazine, Alexandra Penney, partnered with Evelyn Lauder, Estée Lauder's Senior Corporate Vice President and a breast cancer survivor, to distribute pink ribbons after the magazine’s second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue. Because of the huge reach of the magazine and the Estée Lauder brand, pink conquered peach, and is now used by breast cancer organizations around the world.
Planmed mobile installations bring screenings to remote locations
For us at Planmed, every month is October. Together with our partners globally, we are committed to battling breast cancer by providing tools for early diagnosis in the form of the digital Planmed Clarity™ mammography unit range.
From Chile to Spain and from Taiwan to Poland, the Planmed Clarity systems have been installed to trucks all over the world taking mammography screening and diagnostics to remote locations. In isolated, rural regions where distances are long and the roads winding, help can be hard to find. Health care services are often concentrated in urban areas, and making the journey there can be both time-consuming and difficult.
The Planmed Clarity product family is ideal for truck installations. It’s the smallest equipment in the market and can be installed with a turnable base for easy maintenance where space is tight. Thanks to the durable detector made of silicium which is relatively resistant to changes in movement and temperature, the Planmed Clarity units also have one of the widest operating temperature ranges in the market. In addition, they only require a single-phase power feed. The generator in the Planmed Clarity systems is also very small, which accounts for superior thermal efficiency, meaning no extra cooling is needed.
Planmed Clarity™ S is the safe and cost-effective choice for mammographic breast examinations. Its advanced technology and clever solutions enable an efficient workflow at busy screening centers as well as smaller clinics. Planmed Clarity™ 2D, for its part, offers more sophisticated workflow as well as the possibility to upgrade to stereotactic examinations and tomosynthesis.
