India’s first mobile mammography unit gathers dust in Goa

Mammography Unit, a Mobile Clinic Van and a cancer registry in place, taking into account the growing number of cancer cases from Goa, way back in 2010.

India’s first mobile mammography unit gathers dust in Goa

Goa has one of the highest incidence of breast cancer

Margao: Dulari Dessai - my neighbour from Cuncolim - was all but 40 years old when she died. She was one of the many victims of cancer from Goa.

Early detection would have helped in her case but it was too late.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. Early detection combined with proper diagnosis, staging and treatment would help in achieving long term control or cure.

Goa, according to health services surveys, has one of the highest incidence of breast cancer owing to diverse reasons such as late marriages and delayed pregnancies, declined fertility, no or less breastfeeding habit, improper nutrition, rapid lifestyle changes leading to lack of exercise among women. The incidence is much higher in urban areas.

The Directorate of Health Services (DHS), functioning under the Health Minister of the state government, has had a Mammography Unit, a Mobile Clinic Van and a cancer registry in place, taking into account the growing number of cancer cases from Goa, way back in 2010.

But four years down the line the Mobile Clinic Van inaugurated by actor and social activist Shabana Azmi in January 2010 is gathering dust, opposite the Hospicio Hospital in Margao at the Directorate of Health Services premises, along with other condemned vehicles.

The Mobile Clinic van of DHS, equipped with mammography ultrasound and pathology unit for early detection and prompt treatment of breast cancer was inaugurated on January 12 2010, and was one of the two the state government had launched with much fanfare.

The Mobile Mammography Unit (MMU) is equipped with the most up-to-date facilities, namely, a digital mammography machine and a stabilizing system. The new MMU meets the WHO’s regulation for radiation safety, and was the first MMU launched in the country.

The MMU service offers an alternative to hospital-based radiological facilities, and is operated by an all-female staff, including a Medical Officer and radiological technologists, trained in mammography imaging. Women aged 40 and above are encouraged to avail themselves of the facility, which is absolutely free of charge.

The unit was launched by the Goa Directorate of Health Services in association with Muskan, a non-governmental organisation working for the cause of women and children.

“The very first feel of a slightest lump in the breast might be shocking for a woman, but proper diagnosis through mammography and self-examination go a long way in preventing breast cancer,” Azmi had said during the inauguration on the importance of early breast cancer detection

The staff of cancer registry of DHS is also in place and is trained at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.

“The cancer registry has collected data from Goa Medical College and from different peripheral units from whole of Goa. This initiative will help in knowing the prevalence of type of cancer and necessary measures and action could be taken for prevention of the same,” says the DHS.