Jill Biden urges breast cancer screenings, mammograms in PSA: "Put your health first"
First lady Jill Biden is urging Americans to get screened for breast cancer in a new public service announcement amid Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"Right now I bet you're busy taking care of everyone else in your life. The mental load of keeping up with work and family is exhausting, when was the last time you took care of yourself?" she says in an exclusive first look of the PSA aired on "CBS Mornings" Wednesday. "October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I'm asking you to put your health first."
The announcement airs this week on the Lifetime cable network as part of the network's annual breast cancer awareness campaign. A separate public service announcement featuring similar messages from actor Keshia Knight Pulliam and TV correspondent Rachel Lindsay will also be broadcast by the network, the Associated Press reports.
"Take a moment to talk to your doctor about whether it's time for your mammogram or other cancer screenings," the first lady says in the 30-second spot recorded amid flower blooms in the White House Rose Garden. "There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but we know that early detection of cancer saves lives."
The first lady is a longtime advocate for breast cancer education after four of her friends were diagnosed with the disease.
Aside from skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society, accounting for about 30% of all new female cancers each year.
Guidance from earlier this year says breast cancer screenings should start 10 years earlier than previously recommended, meaning mammograms for women at average risk should be done every other year beginning at age 40.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of national experts who issued the draft guidance in May, estimates that the change could result in 19% more lives saved from the disease.