New Specialty Hospital Dedicated in Ghana is Key Component of Susan G. Komen for...

New Specialty Hospital Dedicated in Ghana is Key Component of Susan G. Komen
for the Cure(R)'s Debut in Africa

African Nation's President Cites Collaboration Behind New Resource

KUMASI, Ghana, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Ghana President John Kufuor today
dedicated the city's new hopeXchange Medical Center, a high quality diagnostic
and treatment facility with special focus on breast cancer. During the
ceremony, President Kufuor welcomed a high-profile mission delegation
organized and led by Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R)'s President and CEO Hala
Moddelmog, and acknowledged the significant role that Komen for the Cure can
play in advancing the fight against breast cancer in Africa.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070122/NYM084LOGO)

Moddelmog was joined by physicians, researchers, advocates, survivors and
celebrities, including actress Gabrielle Union, philanthropist Malaak Rock,
wife of comedian Chris Rock, and breast cancer survivor and activist Billye
Aaron, the wife of baseball great Hank Aaron. The delegation is spending four
meeting- and event-packed days in Africa, where it will wind up this
first-ever trip to the continent with a stop in Tanzania to cheer on
participants in the first Tanzania Race for the Cure(R) organized by the
Tanzania Breast Cancer Foundation in collaboration with Susan G. Komen for the
Cure.

"In addition to awareness about early detection, access to a state-of-the-art
treatment facility is critical to addressing the very high breast cancer
mortality rate in Ghana," said Moddelmog. "Susan G. Komen for the Cure is
deeply committed to supporting hopeXchange Medical Center through
collaboration with local and international breast cancer experts, Ghanaian
government officials and non-governmental organizations."

The hopeXchange Medical Center will offer accessible and affordable breast
health services, and house an interactive Learning Laboratory of the Breast
Health Global Initiative (BHGI), where doctors and scientists share critical
information and offer continuing medical education courses to healthcare
providers in Ghana.

Early Detection Remains Key
Funding by Komen for the Cure's Global Promise Fund will allow for planning
and implementation of a regional breast cancer awareness and education
campaign, the first and most important step in curbing the high breast cancer
mortality rate, and will facilitate the launch of the Ghana Breast Cancer
Alliance.

"Doctors, health workers, breast cancer advocates and survivors are the key to
increasing the Ghanaian people's confidence in surviving breast cancer when it
is discovered early," added Moddelmog.

BHGI's mission is to develop, implement and study evidence-based, economically
feasible and culturally appropriate guidelines for International Breast Health
and Control in low- and middle-income countries. BHGI is co-founded and
co-sponsored by Komen and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Ghana: Combating Breast Cancer Social Stigma
Nearly 70 percent of women in Ghana diagnosed with breast cancer who seek help
have advanced forms of the disease, which are harder to treat and survive.
Social stigma surrounding breast cancer forces many Ghanaian women to keep
their symptoms secret. Many die without receiving any treatment at all.

Komen's global expansion efforts target parts of the world where high breast
cancer incidence and mortality rates exist, and where political and economic
stability, along with an attitude of readiness for change exist. Ghana is an
example of a low- to middle-income country that is poised to work with Komen
to improve the breast health of its citizens.

"With the right mix of resources, communication and collaboration, countries
like Ghana can put in place the systems that are necessary to prevent the
needless breast cancer deaths of thousands of women," said Dr. Ben O.
Anderson, M.D., chair and director of BHGI.

BHGI will work closely with hopeXchange and high-level Ghanaian governmental
and health officials, to help create a center that provides breast health
learning experiences in keeping with Ghana's unique cultural, economic and
political realities.

The Lab: Learning, Collaborating, Tracking Data
Learning Laboratory Kumasi Hope is BHGI's first such installation. Its main
component will be curriculum development for the breast cancer continuing
education needs of Ghanaian medical personnel. The curriculum will be
developed through the laboratory with Dr. Anderson leading an international
multi-disciplinary team including local health officials to develop, apply and
test curricula based upon the published BHGI "Guidelines for International
Breast Health and Cancer Control Implementation." This expert team will teach
breast health care and breast cancer biology, and discuss ways to overcome
real-world resource limitations that exist in Ghana and other low- and
middle-income countries.

In a planned second phase of activities, the Learning Laboratory will work
with civil authorities to study and implement a citywide hospital-based breast
cancer registry in Kumasi, with the full direction, collaboration and approval
of the Ghana Ministry of Health.

Cancer registration has a pivotal role in cancer control strategies. According
to the 2006 report on cancer registration in Ghana by the International Agency
for Research on Cancer (IARC), Kumasi is one of only two geographical areas in
Ghana where a population-based or hospital-based cancer registry could be
effectively established, due to the availability of appropriate cancer
diagnosis and management facilities.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R)
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do
everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise
became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer
movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network
of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower
people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures.
Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure(R), we have invested more
than $1.2 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of
nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For
more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast
cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.

About hopeXchange Medical Center
HopeXchange Medical Center, a new 80-bed specialty hospital facility, will
serve as a regional hub for the delivery of high quality healthcare services
and training in five specific areas: women's cancers, HIV, malaria, facial
malformations and ophthalmology. The Center will offer continuing medical
education, tailored to the resources available in the Ghanaian health care
system and to the specific needs of the Ghanaian healthcare providers. Initial
patient services such as the breast cancer diagnostic and treatment facility
will commence in the spring of 2009. HopeXchange Medical Center is located on
6.15 acres of land donated by the Catholic Diocese of Kumasi, Ghana.

SOURCE Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Julie Bernstein, +1-240-601-5562, jbernstein@komen.org, or Emily Callahan,
+1-972-855-1607, ecallahan@komen.org, both of Susan G. Komen for the Cure