Medical Colleges In Maharashtra Adopt 50 Villages Each to Screen Women for Breast Cancer

Mumbai, 2nd May 2023: In a bid to combat the rising incidence of breast cancer among women, the state government of Maharashtra has announced the launch of a special initiative to establish a cancer outpatient department in every medical college across the state.

The initiative aims to ensure prompt diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, with each medical college adopting 50 villages to ensure women in rural areas can benefit from this service. The objective behind the initiative is to create awareness about breast cancer among women in the adopted villages.

49 medical colleges across the state have been selected to take part in the initiative. A breast cancer screening will be conducted one day per week in the special cancer outpatient department, and each medical college has been given a target to adopt 50 villages or screen around 20,000 women so that information about this initiative can reach all women, creating awareness about the importance of early detection.

Medical colleges are typically located in urban areas. To ensure that health facilities related to breast cancer can be provided to women in rural areas, villages will be adopted by medical colleges, and expert doctors from the medical colleges will provide treatment to women in these villages, according to the instructions given by the Minister of Medical Education, Girish Mahajan.

A total of 980,000 women in the age group of 30 to 64 will be examined through 49 medical colleges across the state. The first session of the screening will last for two years, and these women will be re-examined after two years. Additionally, after two years, the scope of this activity will be increased, informed Gynecologist Dr. Tushar Palve.

During the screening process, 40 eligible women in the age group of 30 to 65 will be screened. The screening process will include 20 to 30 minutes of health education information, followed by 15 to 20 minutes of screening for women. If the test report is positive, immediate treatment will be provided.

Each medical college has been given a target to screen 20,000 women in two years, and to complete this target, 21 camps will have to be taken every month. At least 840 women will be screened every month from these camps. The initiative aims to examine 10,080 women in a year and 20,160 women in two years.

The initiative is expected to have a significant impact on breast cancer prevention and treatment in Maharashtra. By creating awareness about the importance of early detection and treatment, the initiative will help save countless lives, particularly in rural areas where access to healthcare is limited.