To raise awareness of fibroids as the most prevalent and costly health issue affecting women, Dallas’ City Council on Wednesday joined two U.S. Cities and nine U.S. states in declaring July Fibroid Awareness Month.
“Fibroid treatment is at the intersection of healthcare equity and racial justice,” said Dr. Suzanne Slonim, the fibroid expert, author, and speaker who championed Dallas’ and Texas’ declaration of July as Fibroid Awareness Month. “Since Latina and Black women are two to three times more likely to suffer from fibroids, and fibroids cost women and their families and places of business billions in lost work time and medical procedures, addressing this women’s health issue has the potential to help women of color save billions of dollars each year.”
Uterine fibroids — benign tumors in the uterus — affect 80 percent of women under the age of 50, causing pelvic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding, urinary frequency, back pain, and reproductive dysfunction including miscarriage, early labor, and infertility. Each year in the United States, it’s estimated almost $8 billion is spent on obstetric outcomes attributed to fibroids, and fibroids cost women in the U.S. more than $17 billion annually through absenteeism and short-term disability.
“Dallas is proud to increase the well-being of residents and advance women’s health,” said Dallas District 9 Council Member Paula Blackmon, a member of the Workforce, Education and Equity Committee and the only woman in the Dallas Council’s Latinx Caucus. “By destigmatizing gynecological health, we can help women access resources and care to prevent the pain, suffering and stress caused by uterine fibroids,”
In addition to three U.S. Cities, July is Fibroid Awareness Month in nine states: California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
