Volunteers from a non-government organization, Helping Hand, approached members of a co-operative housing society in Mulund to take breast cancer check-ups to their doorsteps, but they didn't get any good response.

SH Advani, Oncology department’s head at Jaslok Hospital, talked to society residents about breast cancer. Doctors said that all women in society registered themselves for check-up in a van equipped with mammography machines. With start of

Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the mobile mammography van inaugurated on September 29, has conducted check-ups on 400 women in many of city’s suburbs including Mulund, Vashi, Wadala, Borivili, Malad, Chembur and Andheri.

Advani said, “We have heard several patients complain about the unfriendly atmosphere at hospitals. They have to wait an entire day for an appointment and a check-up, and then wait again for a doctor to consult their results.”

He said that organizations like State Bank of India, Reserve Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Oil and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation had approached the NGO to conduct breast cancer check-ups for their employees. Jai Prakash Singh, coordinator of Helping Hand said, “The check-up is for women who are 40-years-old and above.

The only requirement for us is the availability of parking space for our mammography van.”

The first Asian Breast Cancer Congress will be held in Delhi Feb 9-10 next year.

There are 6.7 million cancer deaths in world and 50 percent of breast cancer cases are in Asia, said the European Society for Medical Oncology.

Conference coordinator, Oncologist Vineet Gupta said, “India has 79,000 new breast cancer cases every year. Believe it or not, there is one new case in India every 6.5 minutes. Many lose their lives unnecessarily because of lack of information due to which in most cases the disease is detected at a late stage.

“By spreading awareness one can save many people, both men and women, from losing their lives,” Gupta said.

He said that in India, there are lot people who could not afford the treatment, the best is to prevent the disease altogether.

Gupta said, “The treatment for breast cancer works out to nearly $15,000, which is very expensive and not everyone can afford it. Thus regular check ups and screening mammography is the best way to keep trouble at bay. Once it is detected at an early stage, breast cancer can be treated completely without going through chemotherapy and other treatments.”