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Free Breast Cancer Screening at Tawam Till End of Month

AL AIN - Tawam Hospital has been offering women free screening and examinations from the beginning of this month as part of its campaign supporting ‘World Breast Cancer Awareness Month’.

The hospital, affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine, has also been hosting a range of workshops and lectures. A walk to spread breast cancer awareness will be held from 7am at Palm Golf Club on October 25.

Tawam has started giving educational information on breast cancer at the Al Ain Shopping Mall from Monday. It is also offering breast examinations and mammograms at the Al Ain Police, the Family Development Foundation in Abu Dhabi and the Mohammed Bin Khaleed Centre.

Michael E. Heindel, CEO of Tawam Hospital, said: “This year, we are expecting over 2,000 people to take part in the walk and we have been overwhelmed by the amount of interest we have received from people from all quarters. We have also been particularly inspired by the bravery of so many of our cancer patients and the willingness of breast cancer survivors to talk openly about their experience.”

Although breast cancer deaths are on the decline due to medical advances and screening, there is still a high prevalence of breast cancer cases in the UAE.

From 2005 to 2007, almost half of the breast cancer patients were from Abu Dhabi, one quarter from Dubai and the rest from the other emirates, said Dr Ghuwaya Al Neyadi, Eastern Region Programme Manager, Public Health Division.

Dedicated to providing world-class treatment and cancer awareness, Tawam is using its mobile mammography screening unit to screen women throughout the month.

The mobile unit which was unveiled earlier this year is the first-ever in the UAE.

“Even though we have screened women for breast cancer throughout the year, we hope that during this month, more women will come forward and get screened.

“By screening more women, more regularly, we hope to be able to significantly reduce the number of fatalities. With one in 10 women at risk of developing cancer, the unit will play a significant role in allowing us to screen up to 20 patients per day,” said Dr Shama Al Awar, Chairperson of Tawam’s Breast Cancer Awareness Committee.

The Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) is supporting Tawam in its fight against breast cancer and is working closely with Dr Ghuwaya Al Nevadi and her team to further expand the programme.

afshan@khaleejtimes.com