Veteran actress Regina Hall has partnered with Novartis to raise awareness about breast cancer and, hopefully, grab “Your Attention, Please.”
The campaign focuses on the critical importance of breast cancer screening. Hall’s advocacy and decision to prioritize her health follow a series of sobering experiences within her own family and social circle. The Girls Trip star is connected to several loved ones who have faced breast cancer diagnoses.
A special emphasis is placed on not delaying lifesaving preventive measures. Hall spoke to People about her struggles with putting off what she should do today until tomorrow.
“People’s lives get busy, and it’s very easy to put something off and
say, ‘Oh, I’ll do that next week.’ And the next week turns into next month, the next month turns into three months,” she says, adding that she puts reminders on her calendar. “So I think making sure we do that while we’re thinking of it. It’s like a clock, it’s a part of our schedule and something we do for ourselves.”Hall emphasizes that for many of her friends who survived, early detection was key to their recovery. That reality transformed her view of mammograms from a chore into a non-negotiable lifesaving tool.
“They’ve had such incredible roads to recovery,” she says. “I don’t know if it would’ve been the same had they been further along.”
Black women are statistically more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and face higher mortality rates. According to the American Cancer Society, “Black women still have a 4% lower incidence rate of breast cancer than White women but a 40% higher breast cancer death rate.” To combat this, the “Your Attention, Please” initiative provides resources to help women navigate the healthcare system and advocate for themselves. Hall has integrated several specific strategies into her advocacy to help women stay disciplined:
Hall and Novartis urge women to
treat their health screenings with the same urgency as a high-stakes business meeting or a family emergency. By treating these appointments as fixed “dates with herself,” she hopes to inspire others to stop putting their wellness on the back burner. Furthermore, the initiative encourages peer accountability by suggesting that friends check in on each other’s screening status as part of regular social conversations.Regina Hall’s focus is on moving the conversation from fear to empowerment. She noted that seeing the women in her life transition from “survivors” to “thrivers” was the primary catalyst for her partnership with Novartis.
“You can’t do the other things if your health isn’t prioritized,” Regina Hall told People
.“Your Attention, Please” digital platform offers localized resources to help women find screening centers and understand their specific risk factors.
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