With Breast Cancer Awareness Month beginning in less than a week, the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan has launched a $3.2 million fundraising campaign to help expand the capacity of breast cancer screening services across the province. As of this next January, the provincial government has lowered the age that women are eligible for the screening services from 50 to 40. A news release from the Cancer Foundation says this campaign was initiated to ensure women between 40 and 49 will be able to access the services they need when they become eligible in 2025.
CEO of the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan, Nora Yeates, says, “This expansion of screening services to women under 50 is good news, and will further support early detection, which can save lives. But it also means there will be a significant increase in demand for breast cancer screening services in the very near future. The goal of this campaign is to make sure the equipment needed is in place to meet this increased demand for breast screening,”
The fundraising is going toward a second mobile mammography unit which can travel through rural Saskatchewan, two new digital mammography machines to be added to the permanent screening program sites in Regina and Saskatoon, and an SUV to transport staff to the site of the mobile unit. Click below for more information.
