The Screening Program for Breast Cancer mobile bus stops in Assiniboia from February 6 to March 3 at the Assiniboia Civic Centre. The program operates a mobile bus that provides screening mammograms to women in rural and northern Saskatchewan. The mobile bus program is aimed at screening women between 50 and 75 years for breast cancer.
While some women may be apprehensive about taking the test, it is important for women to be screened because “early detection is the woman’s best defense,” said Jocelyn Smith, manager for the Screening Program for Breast Cancer. The numbers speak for themselves.
In Saskatchewan, approximately 720 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and about 160 of these succumb to the disease annually. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women and is the second leading cause of death from cancer in Canadian women. “Finding cancer early means less invasive treatment and better survival rates,” added Smith. Approximately 75 per cent of breast cancer diagnosed through the screening program is detected in an early stage.
The mobile bus travels rural Saskatchewan on a two-year cycle. It will return to Assiniboia in two years. After Assiniboia the mobile bus travels to Gravelbourg on March 6-16 and will be parked at the Gravelbourg Curling Rink. Then it goes to Shaunavon from March 17-29 and stop at the Shaunavon Elk’s Hall on 501 Third Avenue East. The Screening Program for Breast Cancer also carries a strong message of prevention.
For more on this, see the Feb. 17, 2017 print or e-edition of the Assiniboia Times. You can also subscribe to the Assiniboia Times here: www.assiniboiatimes.ca/subscribe
