Jennifer AnistonWill women soon embrace mammograms and other early-detection breast cancer screenings as enthusiastically as they once embraced the "Rachel" haircut?

Let's hope so.

In order to raise awareness for breast cancer and the life-saving benefits of regular mammograms and early detection, Jennifer Aniston (who brought us all that ubiquitous layered hairdo back in her Friends days) recently joined Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to tour a breast health center in Northern Virginia.

Aniston has clearly taken on the topic of breast cancer of late: Five, a collection of five short films focusing on the impact of breast cancer, in which she was involved as a producer and director, premiered on Lifetime last week, and she seems to be everywhere speaking out to raise awareness.

With Biden and Sebelius, Aniston met with doctors and administrators who are working to make state-of-the-art breast-cancer detection and care accessible and affordable to all.

Biden and Sebelius's involvement underscores the White House's admirable efforts toward those same goals, in part by working to make mammograms and cervical cancer screenings available to women with no co-pays or other out-of-pocket costs via the Affordable Care Act.



Early detection can mean the difference between life and death for many women with breast cancer, and frighteningly, mammogram rates have been dwindling in recent years. Biden and Sebelius hope to reverse the trend and boost those rates by making sure prevention and care are affordable and accessible to all.

Aniston's involvement may also help. On TV shows like Friends and in countless movies, she's proven that she can have a cultural impact. Here's hoping she has a positive impact on women's health as well.

Will Jennifer Aniston's involvement prompt you to get a mammogram?

 

Image via Chesi - Fotos CC/Flickr