Pink for the Cure coupons in the weekend newspaper from all the corporations

[Skidmore]

promising to donate if you buy their products. General Mills products and a number of other companies. I had a couple of reactions to this.

1. Why should people have to buy a product for these companies to contribute to research for breast cancer?
2. How much of the money collected actually makes it to the people who need it to conduct research and provide treatment.
3. How much do the processed food products, medications, cosmetics, and chemicals used in production contribute to cancer?

Something very fundamental needs to change in our heath care and health care research.

[Bitwit1234]

1. Not only this

here we have people making Public Service announcements all over the TV about contributing food, etc to the needy and bush cuts all the programs to spend the money for them. It is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong we need to have food banks, but it aggravates me to no end that he cuts these programs and then the corporations who benefit from his largess ask the American People to give.

[poverlay]

2. If I want to donate to something, I'll write a check. Otherwise I'll continue buying what is safe,

healthy and most generally beneficial for my family and the earth..

[yellowdogintexas]

3. I write the check then turn around and ask my employer to match it

get them both ways, a 2-fer.

[poverlay]

5. Nice...nt

[OzarkDem]

4. Very good questions - here are some answers

1. Most breast cancer research is funded through the federal government (as it should be).
Federal research programs like NCI, NIH and DoD BCRP will spend about $1.5 BILLION on breast cancer research next year.

Private funding from buying pink stuff and running in races nets between 2% to 3% of that amount or around $50 million per year.

2. Not much. What is sad about these pink marketing charities is that, for all the money they raise, they don't spend any of it on women who have breast cancer. Some give mammograms, but once a patient is diagnosed, they're on their own. In our metro area, we can't even get the billion dollar charities to fund van service to the cancer centers for patients to get treatment. Lots of low income folks can't drive or don't have cars and miss appointments all the time.

3. There are some groups "raising awareness" on this issue. This year, Breast Cancer Action's "Think Before You Pink" campaign is targeting the auto manufacturers who produce cars that pollute the air. Particulate matter in automobile exhaust causes breast cancer as well as lots of other diseases.

http://bcaction.org/Pages/GetInformed/PressReleases/PR100107.html

Check out local breast cancer organizations who are actually doing things to help women in your community and donate to them instead. In fact, some of us are working on more patient centered, "green" cause marketing for breast cancer. Watch and see....

[KT2000]

6. I WON"T BUY PINK !!

This whole thing was started by a company that makes pesticides that have been implicated in causing breast cancer. The company then bought a pharmceutical company that makes cancer drugs.

They have rewarded cancer survivors with the martyr label and are using them to the hilt - they have them running marathons to raise money that is spent the way corporations see fit. Certainly the money will not go to research into environmental causes of breast cancer.

Your questions are great. They are great - what we should all be asking of these corporate thieves.

[Skidmore]

7. These are my thoughts as well.

Perhaps this is something we need to bring to the attention of the appropriate investigatory committee in Congress. To me, it smacks of a blatant and cynical rip-off of the public and a feel-good publicity gimmick.