NA hospital improves cancer screening with mammography machine

…as health ministry pushes to decentralise healthcare

Residents from regions 5 (Mahaica-Berbice) and 6 (East Berbice- Corentyne), will now have access to improved cancer screening, following investments made by the government through the health ministry, to outfit the New Amsterdam (NA) Hospital with a new mammography machine.
In Guyana, breast cancer is considered the most diagnosed cancer, and the second leading cause of death due to cancer in women. In a bid to expand capacity for early detection of breast cancer, the health ministry had procured four new mammography machines last year.
On Sunday one of the new machines was commissioned at the New Amsterdam Hospital in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). During the handing over ceremony, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, revealed that the health ministry over the years has invested heavily towards improving cancer treatment and care for citizens across the country.
The health minister noted that in the past, only one mammography machine was operational in the country.
“Up to maybe a year ago, we only had one mammography machine in the public system. That machine was at the Georgetown Hospital, and think about all the women who were eligible to do a mammography test having to travel all the way to Georgetown Hospital to get that test done. It was not feasible, they wouldn’t be able to do everything for everybody, and therefore, one of the decisions that we made in the government is how can we decentralize this service.”
Machines have already been installed at Suddie Hospital in Region Two and Linden Hospital Complex in Region Ten. A similar machine will soon be operational at the Lethem Regional Hospital in Region Nine.
With these machines more readily available countrywide, the health minister noted that the ministry will be encouraging women between the ages of 40-65 to conduct regular screening.
“…we want to screen routinely, people who are 40 years and old [excepting if you [are young and] know that from your family history that you had someone who died from breast cancer]. So, between 40 and 65, we want to have regular screening. And the Ministry of Health, we have already developed guidelines that we’ve issued pertaining to… having mammography,” he outlined.
The state-of-the-art equipment was purchased through a partnership between the Guyana Government and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Mammography is an x-ray imaging method used to examine the breast for the early detection of cancer and other breast diseases. It is used as both a diagnostic and screening tool.
During a mammogram, a patient’s breast is placed on a flat support plate and compressed with a parallel plate called a paddle. An x-ray machine produces a small burst of x-rays that pass through the breast to a detector located on the opposite side. The detector can be either a photographic film plate, which captures the x-ray image on film, or a solid-state detector, which transmits electronic signals to a computer to form a digital image. The images produced are called mammograms.
On a film mammogram, low density tissues, such as fat, appear translucent (i.e. darker shades of gray approaching the black background)., whereas areas of dense tissue, such as connective and glandular tissue or tumours, appear whiter on a gray background. In a standard mammogram, both a top and a side view are taken of each breast, although extra views may be taken if the physician is concerned about a suspicious area of the breast.