Mumbai: BMC will organise free breast cancer screening camps across all 227 municipal wards on July 22, targeting women aged 30 years and above as part of a citywide early detection drive.The camps will be held between 10 am and 5 pm and the civic body has deployed over 2,000 medical personnel for the exercise.Each ward will have a medical team comprising two doctors, two nurses and two health workers to conduct the screenings. Besides breast examinations, women attending the camps will also have their blood pressure and body weight checked. The preliminary screening is expected to take about five minutes per person.Women found to require further evaluation will be referred for mammography at BMC-run KEM Hospital and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion Hospital), where the diagnostic facility is available.Officials said breast cancer accounts for more than one-fourth of all cancers among Indian women, making early diagnosis crucial. The civic body said the campaign aims to improve awareness and detect suspected cases at an early stage.Doctors from BMC’s major and suburban hospitals, along with specialists from private hospitals, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Tata Memorial Centre, will participate in the drive. The doctors have been trained by Tata Memorial Centre for the screening programme.The BMC will also undertake a public awareness campaign through its schools, anganwadis, health workers and resident outreach programmes to encourage participation. Pregnant women have been advised to undergo breast cancer screening at their nearest maternity home or hospital instead of the ward-level camps.Tawde appealed to women above the age of 30, including homemakers and working professionals, to take advantage of the free screening initiative.
