Breastscreening Services Arrive In Whangaparaoa

MEDIA RELEASE
29 September 2011

Breastscreening Services Arrive In Whangaparaoa

Fully digital breastscreening services have arrived in Whangaparaoa with the upcoming visit by BreastScreen Waitemata Northland’s new mobile unit.

The new unit will be based at the Stanmore Bay Community Leisure & Sports Centre on Brightside Rd from October 3 until October 21. Stanmore Bay is one of the several locations in the Rodney district the unit will visit over the next 12 months. Other sites include Orewa, Warkworth, Snells Beach and Helensville.

Moira McLeod, programme manager for BreastScreen Waitemata Northland, says the mobile unit will help reduce health inequalities in the district, particularly among women living in rural areas of Rodney.

“The digital screening process is also much faster, enabling us to offer an extra 700 breastscreening appointments in the next year alone to eligible Rodney women.”

Women aged 45 to 69 are entitled to a free mammogram every two years.

“Having a mammogram can save your life. It can detect a cancerous growth as small as 2 mm, which is about the size of a grain of rice. By comparison when a breast cancer can be felt, it is on average 2 to 3 cm – the size of a walnut,” says Ms McLeod.

Unscheduled, walk-in appointments are available and women are also welcome to visit the unit to find out more about the breastscreening process.

While at the Stanmore Bay location, the unit will be open Mondays to Fridays from 8.30am to 3.30pm, and on Saturdays from 8.30am to 12.15pm.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 0800 270 200, txt the word ‘breastscreen’ to 4040 or email enrolments@bswn.govt.nz. Free transport is available to and from appointments if required.

Free digital mammograms are also available at BreastScreen Waitemata Northland’s fixed clinic at 2 Pupuke Rd, Takapuna. The clinic is open six days a week, including Saturday mornings and late nights Monday and Thursdays.

ENDS

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