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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RECOGNIZING NATIONAL UTERINE FIBROID AWARENESS MONTH IN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, the month of July is recognized as Uterine Fibroid Awareness Month, a crucial time to shed light on a health condition that affects millions of women across the country; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation, more than 70% of US women will experience uterine fibroids, also called leiomyomas or myomas, by 50 years of age and they are the most common reason, aside from cancer, that women have their uterus removed through hysterectomy, but for Black women that rate is over 80%. Overall, uterine fibroids become more common, from age 30 to menopause, but Black women develop fibroids at a younger age, have more severe symptoms and develop higher rates of complications; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that 26,000,000 women between the ages of 15 and 50 have uterine fibroids, and 25-50% of women with uterine fibroids are symptomatic and more likely to experience heavy and prolonged bleeding, bleeding between menstrual cycles, chronic pelvic pain among other symptoms; and
WHEREAS, Black women deserve access to high-quality and equitable health care for all maternal health needs, including the treatment of uterine fibroids, and an increased focus on education and advocacy on fibroids prevention, symptoms, treatment, and care as well as adequate insurance coverage are necessary to improve this aspect of Black women's maternal health and fertility; and
WHEREAS, although fibroids are benign tumors, negative maternal health outcomes for Black women who experience them, including late detections of diagnoses, increased rates of surgery-related mortality, and increased rates of hysterectomies have persisted, in fact across the U.S., women of African ancestry are more likely to be offered hysterectomy as the only treatment; and
WHEREAS, Black women with fibroids of all socioeconomic statuses and education levels suffer ...
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