YouWeCan, Goa Govt launch initiative for free breast cancer screening for 1 lakh women

Free breast cancer screening will be provided to 1 lakh women in Goa as part of the 'Swasth Mahila, Swasth Goa' initiative, which was launched by international cricketing icon and humanitarian, Yuvraj Singh's YouWeCan Foundation in partnership with SBI Foundation and the state government, ensuring that 50% of the state's age-eligible female population is screened. 

Under this programme, which is supported by the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance and the SBI Foundation, 1 lakh women in Goa will receive free breast cancer screenings utilising 'iBreast' devices over the course of two years. With the backing of the Goa government, free treatment will be provided for all positive patients, according to the press release.

Free breast cancer screening in Goa

Vishwajit P. Rane, Minister of Health, Women and Child Development, launched the programme on Wednesday at Goa Medical College and Hospital. Rane said, "I've been advocating for this effort for quite some time. I met Mihir Shah, the founder of UE Life Sciences, during one of my visits to New York, and we had a long discussion about how to move forward with this effort with this assistance." He further added, "I thank the YouWeCan foundation and SBI Foundation for putting this initiative for us where we will be screening 1,00,000 women for breast cancer. Initially, we had aimed to screen 20,000 women, but it sounded unacceptable to me as it will hardly have any impact".

Talking about the initiative, Yuvraj Singh said, "Having fought through cancer myself, I firmly believe that this disease can be cured if it is detected early and given the correct treatment. And this is our mission with the 'Swasth Mahila, Swasth Goa' initiative. Women are the backbone of our society and we are committed to making every effort for their health and wellbeing." Breast cancer screening will be conducted at 35 Health Centres across Goa, as well as at several outreach camps, as part of this effort. The initiative will use 20 iBreast devices, 10 in North Goa and 10 in South Goa. 

Goa Government backs initiative

All suspicious cases will be sent to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, as well as district hospitals, for further investigation and treatment. Furthermore, the project team from the YouWeCan Foundation will assist in the training and capacity building of government health workers and auxiliary nurse midwives with the use of the iBreast device to screen for breast cancer.

Counsellors and IEC officials will also receive training on how to counsel suspected cases. The iBreast Exam (iBE) is a non-invasive, hand-held, totally wireless mHealth point-of-care solution for breast lesion identification that will be utilised for screening under the 'Swasth Mahila, Swasth Goa' project. iBE has demonstrated great sensitivity and specificity in clinical investigations for detecting non-palpable lesions at an early stage.

In terms of their involvement with this programme, Vishwajit P. Rane, Minister of Health, Women and Child Development, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Industries, Trade AND Commerce, Government of Goa, launched the initiative today at Goa Medical College and Hospital.

(with inputs from ANI)

Image: Twitter@YouWeCan