Pacific / Samoa

Samoa hopes for breast screening programme next year

14:53 pm on 4 October 2017

Samoa's Cancer Society says it is hoping the country will have it's first breast cancer screening programme in place by the beginning of next year.

Photo: 123RF

The CEO, Shelley Burich said Samoa had a mammogram machine but not enough technical staff to use it and read the images.

She said the National Health Service was now looking towards a national screening programme and is working with the Cancer Society to train more people in the radiology department to use the mammogram machine.

"We have a machine and then we have one person that was trained in it. And when that one person leaves the country to get further training, there's no one else that can operate it. So NHS are now training more people in that area and we're hoping that by the beginning of next year that we can start implementing our breast cancer screening programmes."

She said it was currently up to women to learn about the early warning signs of breast cancer and follow health messages of avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol and seeing a doctor if concerned.