Friday September 28, 2012

First mobile breast screening unit gets rolling

By YVONNE LIM
yvonnelim@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The country's first mobile breast screening unit which provides free mammogram and clinical breast examination (CBE) has been launched.

The 12m trailer, equipped with state-of-the-art digital mammography facility as well as a self-examination room, will travel throughout the peninsula to provide screening services.

National Cancer Council (Makna) president Datuk Mohd Farid Ariffin said the services would be provided for those living in rural areas and with a monthly income of less than RM3,000.

“Those who can afford it will be charged RM150 for a mammogram screening and CBE,” he said.

An initiative by Makna under its five-year mobile screening programme, the unit is staffed with an all-female team of trained nurses and licensed radiographers.

Hearty effort: Makna staff members posing in front of the mobile breast screening unit during the launch at Sri Cempaka School in Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.

It can accommodate up to 50 mammograms screenings and 150 CBEs a day.

Mohd Farid said the programme was to make early cancer detection convenient and accessible to all, especially those in rural areas.

The programme is budgeted at RM6.6mil, and is funded via donations from individuals and corporations such as MNRB Holdings Berhad and Tenaga Nasional.

Mohd Farid said Makna planned to launch mobile screening units in Sabah and Sarawak next year.

In launching the mobile unit at the Sri Cempaka School here, Deputy Prime Minister's wife Puan Sri Norainee Abdul Rahman said the programme would ensure early cancer detection for more women.

“Early detection is very important,” she said. “With this, I hope more women take pro-active steps to get themselves screened.”

The mobile screening unit will be in Yong Peng, Johor, until Monday.

News

Friday September 28, 2012

First mobile breast screening unit gets rolling

By YVONNE LIM yvonnelim@thestar.com.my

By YVONNE LIM
yvonnelim@thestar.com.my