10,000 women screened for breast cancer in Goa, seven cases detected

PANAJI: Of the 10,000 women who were screened for breast cancer since October last year, seven were detected with the disease. The screening was done under ‘Swasth Mahila, Swasth Goa’ a joint initiative of cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s YouWeCan Foundation, the SBI Foundation and the Goa government.
Incidentally, the state has the highest rate of breast cancer in women.
The organisers’ aim is to screen one lakh women in Goa for breast cancer, ensuring that 50% of the age eligible target population is covered. They intend to complete screening the remaining 90,000 women over the next 18 months.
“We plan to scale up our breast cancer screening initiative by taking it to other states. Our goal is to make it a pan-India initiative and help women across India have access to an early detection mechanism for breast cancer,” said Singh.
As many as 142 outreach camps have been held in various parts of Goa as part of this project.
The treatment of the seven women who were diagnosed with breast cancer has commenced.
All suspected cases have been referred to the GMC or a district hospital for further investigations and treatment. Treatment is give free with the support of the government of Goa, Singh said.
Director of health services Dr Geeta Kakodkar said early detection is key and screening eligible women is a big step forward towards this. “I am sure our sustained efforts will reach all eligible women and benefit them,” she said.
A milestone of 10,000 screenings is a significant step in reaching the target of screening one lakh women across the state, said SBI Foundation’s president and chief operating officer, Lalit Mohan.