The Early Diagnosis Program for breast cancer of the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) is moving its new mobile mammography unit this week to the outer grounds of the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital, a center attached to the Ministry of Health, where it will remain until the end of April. This initiative seeks to "reinforce the accessibility" of women between the ages of 50 and 69 residing in Lanzarote to mammographic examination and early diagnosis.
The mobile unit, which travels throughout the Archipelago during the year, has a digital radiodiagnostic equipment for high-tech mammograms. During its stay in Lanzarote, the population-based program plans to gradually summon "more than 3,500 women" who are in the aforementioned age range from all municipalities of the island, the council has highlighted.
The appointment is made by personalized letter and by telephone call in which they are informed of the day and time to go to have the mammogram. It is planned that over the next months the mobile unit, located in front of the main entrance of the Lanzarote hospital, will attend in morning and afternoon hours to the more than 3,500 women who will be summoned. For this purpose, there are two teams composed of Radiology technicians and administrative assistants.
The transfer of the mobile unit to Lanzarote has had a "very satisfactory" response from the population and a "high percentage" of attendance in previous occasions, which points to the awareness among women of the importance of carrying out this type of tests. The program has a contact telephone number, which is 928 89 97 78, to offer information about it.
Mammography, an effective tool
Breast cancer screening with mammograms every two years is a project of the 'General Directorate of Assistance Programs' of the SCS that is seen as an effective tool to prevent the disease, since it contributes to the detection in early stages of cancer, so it improves the prognosis and increases the chances of survival.
The 'Early Diagnosis Program' for breast cancer has digital Radiodiagnostic equipment for mammograms, which are located in all its units, both fixed and mobile. This is high-tech equipment that allows to obtain a quality image and with greater capacity to adjust when making the reports, which reduces the additional projections that, in many cases, have to be done to women to confirm the diagnosis, thus providing greater speed and safety in the diagnosis.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of tumor death in women. Its prognosis depends mainly on the extent of the disease at the time of detection, so performing an early diagnosis is one of the ways to improve the chances of cure. Thanks to early diagnosis and advances in cancer treatment, in recent years it has been possible to reduce mortality from this cancer, currently reaching a survival rate of 90% at five years.
