Royal Philips Electronics and Mustafa Sultan Science & Industry, in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Oman, will offer Philips’ mobile MicroDose mammography unit for breast cancer screenings in Muscat.

The mobile unit will be parked outside the Wattayah Women’s Polyclinic in Muscat from June 2 to 20.

With a team of professional radiologists and medical practitioners supported by the Ministry, the initiative will offer free mammograms to women above the age of 40 while also educating them about the disease and the importance of its prevention and early detection.

Dr Fatma Tufail - senior consultant radiologist for Women’s Imaging at Khoula Hospital, Ministry of Health Oman, said, “Undergoing mammography screening on a larger segment of population at a regional level will encourage the majority of the women to benefit from the advanced technologies available today to fight against breast cancer.”

“Mammography is the primary tool used to aid in the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer,” said Diederik Zeven - general manager of Philips Healthcare Middle East & Turkey.

“The screenings will take place using Philips’ state of the art MicroDose mammography unit, which offers clinicians the ability to deliver high-quality images with up to 50 percent less radiation impact on women undergoing the screenings.”

In a majority of Middle Eastern countries, many women do not perform self-exams and only a small percentage go to a doctor at an early stage, mostly due to a lack of awareness about the seriousness of the disease and that regular mammograms are vital.

According to the National Cancer Registry of Oman, 2008, the highest incidence of breast cancer was noted in Muscat (45 per 1,000,000) and the overall standardized rate is 15.6 per 100,000.

In line with such statistics the Ministry of Health in Oman is making an effort to launch an intensive campaign to educate women residing in Oman on the importance on self-examination and seeking medical attention at an early stage.

A regular mammography screening program will strengthen such efforts and will help identify and treat the disease, increasing the survival rate.

Launched during the Arab Health Forum 2012 in Dubai and specifically adapted to the requirements of patients and healthcare providers in the Middle East, the mobile unit was developed as part of the ‘Healthy Women, Healthy Families’ road show that entails different initiatives as part of Philips’ commitment to women’s health and preventative care. – TradeArabia News Service