First marathon mammography session to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM)
Friday, 23 Oct 2009
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150 women enjoy subsidised breast cancer screening. |
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Campaign is part of outreach programme to encourage women to go for regular breast cancer screening.
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Singapore, 23 Oct 2009 – The National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) will hold the first marathon mammogram screening session on 24th and 25th October 2009 (Saturday and Sunday). This project will benefit 150 women, aged 50 years and above who do not have breast symptoms and have not had any mammogram in the past one year.
For this special occasion, the NCCS Mammography Suite will be opened to the public for screening as the facility is meant for referred patients only. Teams of nurses, radiographers, doctors and volunteers will work in shifts from 8.30am to 8.30pm, beyond their usual working hours, to carry out the screening.
The thrust of this project is to reach out to women who have for one reason or another, not managed to go for regular checks for breast cancer. Some of these ladies gave the excuse that selected mammography screening centres’ operating hours usually do not fit into their work schedule.
Project chairman Dr Ho Gay Hui, senior consultant surgeon at the NCCS, said: “We want to create awareness among women that they should go for regular screening. This time the Mammography Suite will operate for 12 hours per day and over a weekend, so those who have been procrastinating can no longer find any excuse not to attend screening.”
Registration for the event was held on the 9 th and 10 th October 2009. “Some ladies turned up at NCCS as early as 8.30am even though registration only began at 2pm. And within two hours, all 150 places were issued! Response from women was simply overwhelming,” exclaimed Dr Ho.
The normal cost for a mammogram at NCCS is $116. However, as part of the BCAM campaign, participants enjoyed a heavily subsidised rate and paid only $25 per person. The huge discount was made possible with the kind support of several sponsors, the main being the pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca Singapore Pte Ltd.
For more information, please contact NCCS Corporate Communications :
Ms Veronica Lee
Senior Executive, Corporate Communications
National Cancer Centre Singapore
Tel:
6236 9429
Email:
Veronica.Lee.H.E.@nccs.com.sg
Ms Carol Ang
Executive, Corporate Communications
National Cancer Centre Singapore
Tel:
6236 4924
Email:
Carol.Ang.S.Y@nccs.com.sg
About National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS)
The National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) is the premier cancer research and treatment facility in Singapore and in the region. It was established in 1997 and sees about 68 per cent of the public sector medical oncology cases and about 65 per cent of radiation oncology cases. NCCS not only houses the most number of oncologists in Singapore but is also equipped with the largest number of equipment to provide the latest radiation oncology care in Singapore.
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