Special screening programme for breast cancer at Early Detection Centre in Narahenpita

October is designated as ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’, worldwide. Cancer ranks amongst the leading three Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD's ) in Sri Lanka and is on the rise with over 15,000-20,000 new cases detected every year.  Breast Cancer has the highest incidence amongst all cancers and is one of the leading cancers amongst females in Sri Lanka.

This week, to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a special screening and early detection programme for breast cancer is being held from October 14-18 at the  Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Centre, 516 1/1 Elvitigala Mawatha, Narahenpita from 9.30 am – 4:00 pm, a statement from the Rotary Club of Colombo said.

The Centre set up by the Rotary Club of Colombo, is operated by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) of the Ministry of Health.

The According to Rotarian Nirmali Samaratunga,  Project Chairperson, 15 years ago, the Rotary Club of Colombo,  launched their life-saving project for screening and early detection of cancer with a  focus on early detection of breast cancer which accounts for over 25% of all cancers in Sri Lanka. She stressed the vital importance of early detection in saving lives.

“With early detection at least one third of deaths from cancer could be prevented. This would mean saving several thousand lives every year” she was quoted as saying in a statement.

The Centre operates a comprehensive cancer screening facility complete with a Mammography  Machine and Ultra Sound Scanner donated by the Rotary Club of Birmingham Alabama, USA.

A radiographer is also available at the Centre to operate this facility.   Cervical Cancer is screened through an  HPV/DNA Testing machine funded by The Rotary Foundation and  Colposcopy machine donated by the WHO. The Centre also has an oral cancer screening unit for oral cancer detection,  in view of this cancer having the highest incidence amongst males.

Activities are also carried out by a Health Education Unit for the prevention of cancer through education and awareness building for early detection and supported by a mobile unit operating islandwide. Meanwhile, counselling is also undertaken for those cases diagnosed positive.
 
To date the Centre has screened almost 74,000 persons, mainly women, with around 18,500 showing signs requiring further investigation. Screening is carried out on weekdays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. This is presently the only national facility dedicated for screening,  early detection and prevention of cancer, offering services entirely free of charge. The Centre is supported by Corporate Partner Dialog Axiata  PLC.
 
The Club is seeking to relocate the Centre at a permanent,  more spacious building to accommodate the rapidly growing numbers requiring screening, as well as to carry out more comprehensive screening  and awareness building activities for prevention.

The Club meanwhile,  together with NCCP,  extended screening and early detection facilities 3 years ago, to the outlying regions commencing with a Breast Cancer Early Detection Unit at Kurunegala Teaching Hospital with equipment funded by The Rotary Foundation. This will enable the public, particularly the less privileged, to have greater accessibility to this life-saving service, the statement said.