Self chec’s “Vote for Yourself” Campaign Promises To Provide A Unique Way To Communicate About Cancer Prevention To Help Save Lives

Self chec announced a new awareness campaign to get individuals to be proactive about their health – continuing its commitment to the education and prevention of cancer through screening and early detection, a proven method in the fight against men’s and women’s cancers. “Vote for Yourself” is a year-long program that calls on the general public to select their favorite educational campaign idea displayed on www.selfchec.org/vote. “Voters” will also have the opportunity to share their comments and ideas to create a message that speaks best to them. They will be eligible for a drawing to win a “healthy prize” as well. The winning campaign will be announced in November 2008.

Self chec is a non-profit organization founded by Joan Peckolick who is determined to prove that one-on-one, caring interactions can truly help people to check themselves for cancer or seek early treatment. Her vision is that a multi-faceted program like Self chec will help place greater emphasis on identifying and eliminating the
obstacles – such as fear and denial - that keep us from properly taking care of ourselves in the first place.

“Getting people to overcome the fear and denial they feel when they hear the word cancer, and to become comfortable and educated about the acts of prevention and screening, is critical in helping to save the thousands of lives that are at risk each year from cancers that are often preventable, treatable and curable,” said Ms. Peckolick. “As part of our mission to increase awareness around cancer that speaks to people in a unique and caring way, we are encouraging the public to cast their vote and help us to build a campaign that
will motivate them, and the people they care about, to take control of their health.”

Self chec is about being well and keeping healthy. It creates this scenario by establishing an emotional bond between itself and the public, a unique approach to the fight against cancer. Self chec’s efforts have become a vital prevention method and one-to-one personal educational initiative that will help keep individuals - and
their families, friends, peers and employees – healthy, especially from the cancers that are often preventable, treatable and curable.

Over 350,000 people in the U.S. die each year from cancers – colon, breast, skin, lung, oral, prostate, cervical, testicular and ovarian - that are often preventable, treatable and curable. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 60 percent of all cancer deaths could be prevented through prevention awareness.
Self chec was created to do just that.

“Prevention and early detection are two important steps in the battle we all fight against cancer,” said Mark Pasmantier, MD., Clinical Professor of Medicine, Chairman, Cancer Committee, N.Y. Presbyterian Hospital, Weil Cornell Campus, New York City. “Self chec is an important resource that can teach people about the importance of prevention and help encourage them to seek the examinations that have been recommended
by the National Cancer Organizations.

About Self chec
Understanding that everyone, including herself, has a connection to cancer, Joan Peckolick searched for a channel to help empower others to be more proactive in their own healthcare and confront their own fears and denial about the disease. In 1998, she founded Self chec, a potential revolution in communicating the
importance of prevention, screening and early detection in the fight against the cancers mentioned above.

Self checs’ assets include a unique, self-empowering caring card kit, comprehensive website, and much, much more. Self chec has created not only a comprehensive print communications strategy, but also an Internet communications strategy that has already increased the unique visitors to its website by over 300 percent in the past two years. In 2006, Self chec garnered $1 million worth of pro bono advertising and media space and has also received tremendous support and gratitude not only from the media community, but also the medical community and general public.

Because it is often for others that one does something for themselves, Self chec is committed to making prevention and early detection responsible actions for “ourselves” and for the “ones we love and care about”. Self chec’s aim is to reach every person, including the underserved populations, and generations to come, (who
have the potential to get cancer), through peers, relatives and friends, to educate them about the importance of prevention, screening and early detection. In this spirit, remarkably in 2006, thirty-seven percent of visitors to the Self chec website signed family and friends up to receive the email health reminders Self chec offers.

For more information about cancer prevention, early detection and screening, and to sign up for email health reminders, visit www.selfchec.org. To participate in the “Vote for Yourself” campaign, visit www.selfchec.org/vote.

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