Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority has plans to bring its Mobile Mammography Unit to Indianapolis this year.
“The members of the Central Region of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated are proud to debut the new Mobile Mammography Unit in Indianapolis, during our regional convention,” said Sonya L. Bowen, Central Regional director. “The utilization of this van represents one more way in which we can provide needed healthcare services for women unable to access healthcare through conventional delivery methods.”
In 2015, according to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, 61 percent of women ages 40-64 reported foregoing a routine mammogram. The sorority hopes to combat that statistic by bringing health screenings to women who wouldn’t be able to receive them otherwise due to cost or a lack of access to facilities with the technology to conduct a mammogram. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has also found that the mortality rate for Black women with breast cancer is 41 percent higher than white women, which is why AKA is focusing on this specific form of cancer.
Beyond the free screenings, AKA will offer information on prevention and other mammography services should women need it. Additionally, they are partnering with local clinics and rural health centers across the country to emphasize the need for Black women to receive regular mammograms.
“The key focus of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s breast cancer initiative is to provide women access to early detection and education when it comes to the disease,” said AKA International Program Chair Ora Douglass. “Our overall mission is to help reduce the factors that lead to breast cancer in African American women by having them visit our AKA Mammography Mobile Unit.”
Over the next four years, the historically Black sorority hopes to screen more than 100,000 women with the mobile screening unit, which was first unveiled in October 2018 at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.
The Mobile Mammography Unit was scheduled to be in Indianapolis this week, but is stalled due to flooding across the Midwest. The sorority is working to get an alternate date as soon as possible. If you plan to take advantage of these free screening, but are uninsured, please register at www.assuredimaging.com/AKA.
Alpha Kappa Alpha will bring its Mobile Mammography Unit to Indianapolis this year.
