VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City Oncology Hospital and the Supportive Fund for Cancer Patients - Bright Future are offering free breast cancer screening for 1,200 women aged 35 or more.

A woman is screened for breast cancer in a free programme. —VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc

The programme is held on the occasion of Vietnamese Women’s Day on October 20.

Women who have had relatives diagnosed with breast cancer are encouraged to take part in the screening.

The screenings will be done at the hospital’s hi-tech health examination and treatment room on Nguyen Huy Luong Street in Binh Thanh District from 1:30pm to 4pm every Saturday this month and the first week of November.

The screening will include either an ultrasound or a mammography. People at high risk will be offered counselling.

On October 18, the hospital will launch a club for patients to share their problems, according to the hospital.

Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among women in the world.

It is the most common cancer in women in Vietnam, and in 2000, the incidences of breast cancer in Vietnam totalled more than 5,500, doubling in 2010.

The prevalence of breast cancer per 100,000 people in the country was 29.9 in 2010. Of these, 64.7 per cent were under 50 years old.

It is forecast that the number of incidences will increase to over 22,600 by 2020.

More than 80 per cent of breast cancer patients could be treated effectively if they are detected in the early stage of the disease, according to experts.

Source: VNS