Billboard campaigns educate Haredi women about early screening and detection of breast cancer.

“I don’t want another woman to die of a disease she can’t name.” With this sentence, said by Ruth Colian in a plea for help to Chochmat Nashim, our Breast Cancer Awareness campaign was born.

The death rate for Haredi women from breast cancer is disproportionately higher than their non-Haredi peers even though they develop it less frequently. In parts of the Haredi community, the word breast is taboo and breast cancer is not openly discussed. With little exposure to health needs in school, and with women’s health not discussed in their media, women simply don’t know about the diseases that can kill them or the screening that can save them. One study shows that in Israel Haredi women rank 8th for life expectancy, while Haredi men rank 2nd.

Chochmat Nashim raises awareness of the importance of breast cancer screening by reaching out directly to the community in partnership with Ruth Colian, founder of U’Bezchutan. Posters, flyers, and highway billboards display modest, appropriate messaging on the importance of early detection and screening.

Thousands of people see these posters, over 250 calls come into the hotline, and messages we receive let us know that because of this campaign, women are getting screened and saving their lives.