Miss America tours Iowa

Miss America is visiting Iowa to spread her message about how to better care for breast cancer patients. The former Miss Oregon, Katie Harman, visited breast cancer patients at a Des Moines hospital before addressing a meeting of the Iowa Healthcare Access Network. The 21-year-old wants to use her visibility as Miss America to offer encouragement to women fighting the disease. Harman travels 20,000 miles a month and is in a new community every 3 days.Harman says she’s met with breast cancer patients all over the U-S in the few months she’s worn the crown. Harman has worked as a cancer research assistant and says that she has a family history of breast cancer and is herself at risk. Her platform as Miss America is called “Breast Cancer in America: Caring Community by Community.” Harman urges physicians to treat the person, not just the disease, and for patients to never give up hope.