Council Member Joseph C. Borelli wants you to know that getting a preventative health screening can save your life, and that is why he is partnering with HeartScan Services to offer no-cost thyroid cancer screenings to members of the community, especially active and retired emergency responders.

According to the National Cancer Institute, there were an estimated 637,115 people living with thyroid cancer in the United States in 2013, and recent clinical findings show thyroid cancer as the fastest increasing cancer in the United States. It is also one of the top five cancers contracted by emergency responders who served on September 11, 2001.

The risk factors for thyroid cancer are wide ranging and include age, family history, surgery or radiation to the neck, type 1 diabetes and pregnancy, and it is recommended by the American Thyroid Association that all adults 35 years and older see their physician for a thyroid screening at least once every five years.

These no-cost screenings will be offered at Mount Loretto (6541 Hylan Boulevard) on Tuesday, March 21, between the hours of 10am – 2pm. The number of screenings be offered is limited and those interested in a screening must RSVP by contacting Borelli’s office by phone: (718) 984-5151; or by email: borelli@council.nyc.gov.

The screenings were made possible through a FY17 $5,000 budget allocation from Council Member Borelli to HeartScan Services, an organization which offers a variety of other health screenings to many of our city’s unionized workforce.

“After the September 11th attacks we saw a dramatic increase in thyroid cancer among first responders and people who spent time in lower Manhattan,” said Borelli. “It’s a fact that early detection saves lives, and we hope many people will take advantage of this opportunity to get checked.”