If you’ve never been screened for breast cancer before – – you don’t need an appointment to get a mammogram

Public Health Nurse Stephanie Gravel says the Porcupine Health Unit is inviting women between the ages of 50 and 74 to bring their health card to the TDH on Monday

Eligible women – including those who haven’t had a mammogram in 2 years – can go to the Timmins Hospital anytime Monday between 8am and 6pm. If you are not eligible, but would like to learn more about self-breast-examinations and breast cancer awareness facts, you are welcome to come.

The “Mammo-Rama Breast Screening Challenge” used to be called the “50 Over Fifty OBSP Challenge”. The initiative is aiming to encourage eligible women, between the ages of 50 and 74 to go to the Timmins and District Hospital Foundation on Monday, May 4th anytime between 8am and 6pm. Timmins is not alone in this special day – 9 Ontario Breast Screening Programs (including Timmins), will rise to the challenge across Northeastern Ontario

The Porcupine Health Unit’s Public Health Nurse Stephanie Gravel says many women choose not to get a breast screening because they are afraid the process will be painful, while others fear the rest will find cancer. Gravel adds, another barrier discouraging women is time constraints. She says, some women just don’t have time in their busy calendars to schedule an appointment.

Breast cancer screening can find cancer at an earlier stage and result in better health outcomes. Research shows that regular screening of women aged 50 to 74 can reduce mortality, yet only 60% of Ontario women were screened in 2011-2012.

“There are still many women who would benefit from regular breast screening and the Mammo-Rama Breast Screening Challenge aims to bring that message home,” says Gravel.

In Ontario, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in females. Eight out of ten breast cancers are found in women 50 years of age or over.

An estimated 9,300 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and approximately 1,950 women died of the disease that year.

The Porcupine Health Unit is located in Northeastern Ontario, serving the entire Cochrane District and Hornepayne, in Algoma District.

The main office is located in Timmins, Ontario, with branch offices in Cochrane, Hearst, Hornepayne, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Matheson, Moosonee