Liberia, Nov. 3 -- On the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Liberia's survivors and advocates did what a health system is supposed to do: they told women that cancer is not a death sentence if it is found early. They did it on a short timeline and on goodwill. It is now the government's turn to match them with money, practical support and imagination.

ON SATURDAY, WOMEN who had been told they were dying walked to show otherwise. Benejane Shaw, ten rounds of chemotherapy behind her, called herself "a living testimony that early detection saves lives." Florence Tugbeh, who once had no hair, said she could now "shake my head." They were not asking for sympathy. They were asking their fellow Liberians to get screened.

THEY DESERVE ...