Mayor And BIDMC Doctors Kick Off Colon Cancer Awareness Month
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission and the American Cancer Society to sponsor a program at Boston City Hall to promote colon cancer awareness.
Date: 2/27/2006
BIDMC Contact: Kathleen Cosgrove
Phone: 617-667-7305
BOSTON – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission and the American Cancer Society to sponsor a program at Boston City Hall to promote colon cancer awareness.
“As a cancer survivor, I know how important early detection and screening can be to beating this disease, ” said Mayor Thomas Menino. “That’s why events like this are so important - because they give people the information they need to get tested and stay healthy.”
The program featured BIDMC physicians, who answered questions or concerns about colon cancer and cancer testing. Other BIDMC nurses and staff gave out informational handouts, showed videos and offered pledge cards to guests so they could schedule an immediate follow-up and a colonoscopy.
“Today’s event aimed at promoting early testing and detection of colon cancer, a disease which strikes about 149,000 Americans each year,” said J. Thomas Lamont, MD, chief of gastroenterology at BIDMC. “We are very grateful to the Mayor, the American Cancer Society and the Boston Public Health Commission for helping spread the word on this devastating disease.”
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a major patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and ranks fourth in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.harvard.edu.
