Upstate Carolina Medical Center, the American Cancer Society, and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control have partnered to fight colon cancer among African Americans in Cherokee County.

The first public event will be a free community seminarHealthTalk-Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. at Bethel Baptist Church in Gaffney. The guest speaker will be general surgeon Bill Wheeler, M.D. “We are very hopeful this will be a well-received project,” hospital Marketing Director Steve Wong said. “Cherokee County ranks fourth in the state for the highest number of deaths from colon cancer. This is especially disturbing because so much can be done to prevent, detect and treat this cancer. For the past several months, Upstate Carolina, the American Cancer Society, DHEC, and several community agencies have worked together to bring awareness to this problem. This HealthTalk is the first public event. Next month, there will be a health fair focused on the African American community.”

Normally, the hospital’s HealthTalks are at Upstate Carolina. However, in an effort to better reach the African American community, this HealthTalk will be at Bethel Baptist Church, one of the largest African American churches in the county. This free HealthTalk should last about one hour. Refreshments will be served. For more information about this seminar, please contact Wong at 487-1515.