THANKS TO THIS BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR, INDIA GETS ITS FIRST 'MAMMOMOBILE' IN TAMIL NADU

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women in the world. According to a study titled 'The Epidemiology of Breast Cancer in Indian Women', breast cancer is now the most common form of cancer among Indian women.

For most Indians, the problem is lack of facilities for proper diagnosis. But now, a bright-pink, fully equipped mobile breast and cervical cancer screening bus is set to change people's fortunes.

Run by Shadi Ganz, a breast cancer survivor, philanthropist, artist and a cognitive psychotherapist, the bus is equipped with separate compartments outfitted with equipment like a mammography machine, a control room where the mammography results are collected, and another section where women are examined for cervical cancer.

“I started this foundation because in India, by the time a woman is diagnosed, it might be too late to help her. This bus currently travels through the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, where we conduct awareness programmes and convince women to come to get screened at the mammomobile,” Ganz told The New Indian Express. 

The foundation has one bus in operation since 2016. The bus has toured around 92 villages in Tamil Nadu and has conducted approximately 500 mammograms a month. This is the nation’s first and only mammomobile, has taken two years and about Rs 2 crore to make, and is mostly self-funded. The machinery has been imported from the USA.

After checkup and results, if a woman has been diagnosed, the trust takes care of the treatment.