EAST PROVIDENCE – Visitors to a ceremonial event on Monday at City Hall will have the opportunity to walk through a model of a giant colon and hear public officials weigh in on the importance of colon cancer screening.
Brown Medicine Endoscopy Center is holding the event in honor of March’s status as Colon Cancer Awareness Month.
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The gathering, scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., will be held outdoors at City Hall on Taunton Avenue.
Dr. Harlan Rich, medical director at Brown Medicine Endoscopy Center, is slated to speak briefly, along with Mayor Roberto DaSilva and East Providence Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Laura McNamara.
“Colon cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable with proper screening to remove polyps, or clumps of cells, that can become cancerous,” Rich said. “The age of 45 is now the new 50 to first get screened for many people, unless there is a family history. Prevention can also include eating a high-fiber diet, weight control and increased physical activity. No one has to die from colon cancer.”
Event attendees are encouraged to wear blue clothing and bring a flashlight to participate in a Blue Light Walk around City Hall, which will be illuminated in blue light in support of colorectal cancer awareness.
Those who walk through a large colon that will be on display as part of the event will get to see firsthand what potentially cancerous polyps look like.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
