Initiative Addresses Structural and Cultural
Barriers to High-quality, Culturally Competent Health Care for
Black and Hispanic Women; Delivers Innovative Health Research,
Education and Access Model
Hologic, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOLX), a global leader in women’s health,
today launched Project Health Equality (PHE), a unique initiative
that strives to address the structural and cultural barriers that
prevent Black and Hispanic women in the U.S. from receiving the
same quality health care as white women. PHE will focus initially
on how health care is experienced by thousands of Black and
Hispanic women in regions across the United States. It will
leverage crucial partners to make meaningful, sustainable health
care improvements in these communities.
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Project Health Equality is a multifaceted, multiyear investment
of more than $20 million to drive research, education and access to
ensure women of color receive the care they want, need and deserve.
It accelerates and expands Hologic’s existing efforts to increase
screening and care across a spectrum of life-threatening conditions
– breast cancer, cervical cancer and abnormal uterine bleeding –
that disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic women. The goal
of PHE is to innovate culturally competent care delivery, improve
public health policy, increase access and ultimately decrease
disparities that lead to disproportionate mortality for Black and
Hispanic women.
In the U.S., Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast
canceri and two times more likely to die from cervical cancerii
than white women. They also have a 14% higher incidence of cervical
cancer than white women.iii Meanwhile, Hispanic women are 40% more
likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 20% more likely to
die from it compared to non-Hispanic white women.iv Finally, Black
women experience fibroids up to three times more frequently than
other racial groups.v
“Our goal is to end the disconnect between the care Black and
Hispanic women receive and the care they should receive,” said
Karleen Oberton, chief financial officer, Hologic. “Project Health
Equality is about doing the big, bold work necessary to create
equity in the here and now that can reverberate across women’s
lives and society for generations to come.”
Combating health disparities that
affect Black and Hispanic women
PHE is a unique, holistic approach to solving the systemic and
cultural issues that continue to exacerbate inequality in women’s
health care through:
- Research: Hologic is conducting research to inform
actionable insights into cultural, social and economic disparities
to ensure that Black and Hispanic women in the U.S. can access and
receive the best health care available. This will inform the
company’s next steps on the path to scalable solutions. For
example, a report published in February 2021 in the Journal of the
American College of Radiologyvi showed that Black women are more
likely to receive inferior breast cancer screening than white
women.
- Patient and provider awareness and education: With
leading health advocates like the Black Women’s Health Imperative
and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, Hologic is
developing a dedicated website, printed materials, social media
assets and celebrity partnerships to help health care
professionals, providers, community health workers (promotores),
policy makers and others implement solutions to address the
barriers that impact the health care experiences of Black and
Hispanic women.
- Access to care: In collaboration with radiologic
nonprofit RAD-AID, Hologic is expanding the delivery of
state-of-the-art care, from screenings through treatment, for
thousands of underserved women. Hologic and RAD-AID are partnering
with Federally Qualified Health Care Centers, local community
health clinics and tertiary care institutions across the United
States, including in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois,
New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Washington, D.C., to ensure
greater access and higher-quality health care.
Partnering with others to get the job
done
Since its founding, Hologic has been a champion of women’s
health, and PHE is just the latest example of its commitment. PHE
extends Hologic’s long-time partnership with a variety of
international organizations whose unparalleled contributions to
women’s health have already made a meaningful difference in the
lives of Black and Hispanic women globally.
“While we have a 36-year legacy of serving women with the most
scientifically and technologically advanced health products and
services, the challenges are too ingrained, too big, and too
complex for any one organization to solve,” said Meg Eckenroad,
vice president, women's health, Hologic. “We cannot reach the goals
of PHE without partnering with other effective organizations whose
values, vision and expertise complement our own, and who have
unique insights into these communities. Our ongoing partnerships
with the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the National Alliance for
Hispanic Health and RAD-AID will be critical to our success.”
- Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) is the only
national organization devoted solely to advancing the health and
wellness of America's 22 million Black women and girls and has been
a partner of Hologic since 1998. BWHI is a crucial partner in
addressing racial and systemic barriers to care for Black women and
reaching them in a way that is relevant and impactful. In October
2020, BWHI and Hologic launched the P.O.W.E.R of Sure campaign – a
multiyear commitment to decreasing breast cancer screening
disparities for Black women. The campaign features Mary J. Blige
and provides a wealth of resources for Black women about
mammography.
- National Alliance for Hispanic Health (The Alliance) and its
supporting organization, the Healthy Americas Foundation
(HAF). The Alliance is a nonprofit and nonpartisan advocacy
organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of
Hispanics, which Hologic has partnered with since 2014. It is a
trusted thought partner of Hologic and is providing critical
insights into Hispanic women/Latinas so PHE programs can
effectively address barriers to health care that Hispanics
regularly experience. HAF launched Mi Hermana — Latina Health
Champions to provide training and support so women can better
manage and advocate for their own health.
- RAD-AID is an international nonprofit organization
working to increase and improve radiology in low-resource and
medically underserved regions of the world. RAD-AID has been a
partner with Hologic in a variety of efforts going back to 2017.
With support from PHE, RAD-AID will identify communities in need
and implement strategies for screening and diagnostic services to
ensure effective pathways for medically disenfranchised women to
receive treatment. The company’s grants to RAD-AID for this
initiative will support innovative care, radiology, public
education, nursing and patient navigation at sites selected by
RAD-AID as clinical partners to provide critical screening,
diagnostic breast imaging and treatment for women who may otherwise
go without.
About Project Health
Equality
Project Health Equality (PHE) is a multifaceted, multiyear
initiative from Hologic, Inc. that uniquely combines research,
education and access to address the structural and cultural
barriers that prevent Black and Hispanic women from receiving the
same quality of health care as white women. The initiative seeks
immediate change in how health care is experienced by thousands of
Black and Hispanic women in cities across the United States, and
leverages crucial partners to drive meaningful, sustainable change
for these communities. For more information, and to join the
mission, visit www.hologic.com/projecthealthequality.
About Hologic, Inc.
Hologic, Inc. is an innovative medical technology company
primarily focused on improving women's health and well-being
through early detection and treatment. For more information on
Hologic, visit www.hologic.com.
Hologic and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of Hologic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United
States and/or other countries.
About Black Women’s Health
Imperative
The Black Women's Health Imperative (BWHI) is the only national
nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing health equity and
social justice for Black women across the lifespan, through policy,
advocacy, education, research and leadership development. BWHI
identifies the most pressing health issues that affect the nation's
22 million Black women and girls and invests in the best of the
best strategies and organizations that accomplish its goals.
www.bwhi.org
About RAD-AID
RAD-AID is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable global health
radiology organization, founded in 2008, serving over 85
resource-poor hospital partners in 38 low- and middle-income
countries (LMICs). RAD-AID has a diverse interdisciplinary
composition of over 14,000 volunteer radiology professionals,
including radiologists, nurses, technologists, physicists,
engineers and information technology specialists. Through outreach,
radiology education and equipment donations for medical imaging,
RAD-AID advances radiology to support health services such as
cancer care, maternal-infant health, women's health, breast cancer
screening, cardiovascular procedures, infectious disease, trauma
and much more. RAD-AID.org
About the National Alliance for
Hispanic Health (The Alliance)
The Alliance is the nation’s foremost science-based source of
information and trusted advocate for the health of Hispanics in the
United States with a mission to achieve the best health for all.
www.healthyamericas.org
About the Healthy Americas
Foundation
The Healthy Americas Foundation (HAF) is a U.S. based national
nongovernmental 501(c)(3) organization that strives to improve and
further the health of individuals and families in their communities
throughout the Americas. www.healthyamericasfund.org
Forward Looking
Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking information that
involves risks and uncertainties, including statements about the
Company’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. There can
be no assurance that these efforts will be successful, benefit the
Company and its stockholders, or improve over time. Hologic
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements presented
herein to reflect any changes in expectations or events, conditions
or circumstances on which any such data or statements are
based.
SOURCE: Hologic, Inc.
_________________________________
i
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6540a1.htm?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcancer%2Fdcpc%2Fresearch%2Farticles%2Fbreast_cancer_rates_women.htm
ii
https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/addressing-the-cervical-cancer-screening-disparities-gap
iii
https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/addressing-the-cervical-cancer-screening-disparities-gap
iv
https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=61 v
Wise LA, Laughlin-Tommaso SK. Epidemiology of Uterine Fibroids:
From Menarche to Menopause. Clinical obstetrics and gynecology. Mar
2016;59(1):2-24.). vi
https://www.jacr.org/article/S1546-1440(21)00006-5/fulltext
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Jane Mazur (508) 263-8764 (direct) (585) 355-5978 (mobile)
Jane.Mazur@hologic.com
Michael Watts (858) 410-8588 Michael.Watts@hologic.com
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