Breast Cancer Prevention and The American Cancer Industry

By Susan Wadia-Ells
I am angry because The United States has yet to pass breast cancer prevention laws.
Unlike the European Union, which passed a cosmetics safety law in 2005, and a chemical safety law in 2006, the U.S. Government continues to allow known and potentially carcinogenic ingredients to be added to our food supply, our air and water, our cosmetics, our body care products, our dry cleaning process, and our home and garden supplies.
As a result of the European Union’s Safe Cosmetics Act, most of the shampoos, body lotions, hair dyes and lipsticks now in our American bathrooms, are considered unsafe and banned from sale in Europe. Imported non-organic meat and dairy products from the US are also banned. This is because most meat and dairy now sold in US supermarkets, contain added animal growth hormones, which research shows contribute to breast and other type of cancers.
Meanwhile, U.S., breast cancer rates are the highest in the world. In the 1950’s, only 1 in 20 American women could expect a breast diagnosis in her lifetime. Today, in some EU countries, that number is one out of 15, in Great Britain it is 1 out of 9 and in the U.S. it is now 1 out of 7.
The European Union’s government believes it has the responsibility and the ability to protect its citizens from this breast cancer epidemic that has gained momentum in both the US and Europe for the past fifty years. So why hasn’t the US passed similar prevention laws?
“It’s the cancer economy stupid.”... to paraphrase a well-known political truism.
Environmental and nutritional science, along with medical research, is now showing us that 90% of breast cancer is preventable. This is not good news for companies within the American Cancer Industry; such business entities do not promote prevention as they must always find ways to increase surgery numbers, drug sales and radiation procedures to meet their quarterly profit goals.
Neither the US corporate media, nor our politicians have yet to talk about this huge disconnect between the industry’s need for more cancer patients and our growing international body of scientific research that understands how to stop breast cancer before it starts. The result? American women are now living with an unnecessary breast cancer epidemic.
Maybe it’s time to haul in the pink ribbons and raise some red flags.
Susan Wadia-Ells is the director of The Women, Weight and Breast Cancer Project or WWBC. This national organization offers free workshops to women's community, religious and business groups around the country, educating women about personal and public ways we can each prevent breast cancer. The project also offers women support in losing extra body fat, in order to lower one's breast cancer risk. The project's growing group of paid workshop leaders hopes to offer workshops in all fifty states by the end of 2007.