Dearborn will be at the center of the first-ever comparative study of the factors that may inhibit Arab women in southeast Michigan and in Israel from getting critical breast cancer screening services.

Nearly half of Michigan’s adults — 44 percent — have minimal literacy skills, no greater than those necessary to perform simple, everyday activities, according to the Michigan League for Human Services. Those numbers are even higher in Detroit, according to Reading Works, an organization of diverse leaders from the business, education, media, civic and faith communities that is dedicated to boosting adult literacy in Metro Detroit.