Albany Herald breast cancer awareness ‘pink edition’ to run Thursday

ALBANY — The Albany Herald will be in the pink again on Thursday.

For the eighth straight year, The Herald will be printed on pink paper to call attention to breast cancer awareness. The Herald’s website also will feature a pink background Thursday.

The special issue, which runs each year in late September as a lead-in to National Breast Cancer Month in October, allows advertisers to contribute to the awareness. A portion of advertising revenue from Thursday’s paper again will be donated to Horizons Community Solutions, which has been active in the fight against cancer in Southwest Georgia for more than a decade and a half.

“Horizons is so grateful to The Albany Herald for continuing its important tradition of publishing the annual ‘Pink Paper,’” Horizons CEO Diane Fletcher said. “This eye-catching special edition increases awareness about breast cancer all across the region, while at the same time raising funds for our local work against cancer.”

Fletcher has said that the annual pink paper prompts an increase in the number of calls the organizations receives from the public about services related to breast cancer.

“We stand proud in helping bring attention to the importance of regular screenings,” Herald General Manager Ken Boler said. “Turning the newspaper pink for a day and then following up with events, content and stories, helps keep the community engaged all month long.

“Horizons Community Solutions and Phoebe Health System are great partners in helping find ways to get screenings for everyone. Our advertising support from the business community helps tremendously with this annual effort. Please support and say thanks the next time you visit one of the ‘pink’ advertisers.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer trails only skin cancer as the No. 1 cancer that affects women, regardless of race and ethnicity. It is the most common cause of cancer death among Hispanic woman and ranks second most common, behind lung cancer, for white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.

In 2014, the most recent year for which numbers are available, CDC officials said 236,968 women and 2,141 men in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer. That year, 41,211 women and 465 men in the United States died from breast cancer.

In Georgia, the 2014 rate of breast cancer was 124.4 per 100,000 women. The death rate was 22.6 per 100,000.