Free breast cancer screening available at Pretoria station
In the build up to October, the World Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Pretoria residents are urged to go for free breast cancer screening at Hello Clinic inside the Pretoria station.
Andrew Ngozo
One in 35 South African women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, according to the breast cancer association of SA. And although male breast cancer is rare globally, the breast health foundation recently reported that SA has the highest incidence of this breast cancer in the world.
Commuters passing through Pretoria railway station are urged to make use of free breast screening services available at the Hello Clinic inside the station. Rekord reported about the opening of this facility in August last year.
Hello Clinic is a partnership between the Ministry of Social Development, Metropolitan Health, PinkDrive, Bidvest and Motion Pathology. “The clinic offers the people of Tshwane convenient and free access to breast cancer screening,” said Henrietta Bogopane-Zulu, Deputy Minister of Social Development.
Although early detection of breast cancer significantly boosts chances of recovery, many South Africans do not have convenient or affordable access to screening services.
“The collaboration between the various stakeholders is a major step in bridging the gap between the insured and uninsured in the city,” said Dylan Garnet, chief executive officer of Metropolitan health. “We are further pleased with such meaningful partnerships which bring quality healthcare to all South Africans and enable healthier lifestyles across the country,” he noted.
On behalf of PinkDrive, the public benefit organisation that is delivering the screening services, founder and CEO Noelene Kotschan said they firmly believed that Hello Clinic is a sustainable project that increases her organisation’s momentum in efforts to promote early detection of breast cancer.
“We are pleased to be working with private partners and support government in touching and changing the health destiny of as many citizens as possible,” she said.
More than 5 000 free mammograms done over 60 000 clinical breast examinations in community areas have been provided by PinkDrive to date while over 90 000 South Africans have been educated on breast cancer.
October will be World Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Hello Clinic is already encouraging Pretoria residents passing through the Pretoria station to pop in for free breast screening.
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