American Cancer Society Effort To Save Latino Lives.

The American Cancer Society launched a public awareness campaign to increase life-saving cancer screening practices among Latinos and encourage this community to seek the Society’s expert bilingual cancer information services.

The Society offers extensive information in Spanish through trained cancer specialists who are available 24 hours a day at 1-800-ACS-2345 and online on www.cancer.org.

“Reaching Latinos, who are among the groups at highest risk, is essential to our fight against cancer,” said Hector Batista, Executive Vice President, American Cancer Society. “Latinos often lack culturally and language appropriate information to make important decisions about their health. Latinos are also far less likely to seek routine medical tests–tests that can detect cancer early and ultimately save lives.”

The “Mi Vida” campaign features male and female cancer survivors in English and Spanish language television, radio and print spots that will appear in Metro New York media outlets. The campaign is designed to appeal to the importance of family with a message that getting checked for cancer early can give individuals more time to share with loved ones.

Breast cancer survivor Lydia Melendez, a resident of Queens, appears in the spots urging women to get annual Pap test and mammograms. Lydia says, “If my family is so important to me, shouldn’t I give them what they want? … My Life.” Another spot features colon cancer survivor Alberto Gallego and his wife, and urges regular colon cancer screenings for men and women.