March 22, 2000
(Health and Community Services)

• $2 million is committed to establish a provincial breast health centre at St. Clare�s Mercy Hospital in St. John�s. This centre will allow for development of a comprehensive breast health program, and will build on a successful three year project which was carried out in the St. John�s, Avalon and Central East regions of the province.

• The breast health centre at St. Clare�s will serve as a screening and diagnostic facility for St. John�s and surrounding area. It will also coordinate provincial diagnostic activities, and be the administrative hub for the breast health program for the whole province.

• In Newfoundland and Labrador, the breast health pilot project was successful in attracting more women per capita for breast screening than similar projects across the country.

•  Many services will be provided through the centre including: breast health education, breast self-examination, clinical breast examination, mammography, ultrasound and biopsies.

•  The breast health centre will serve as a centre of excellence and provide support for other facilities across the province. Those facilities currently providing breast health services will be linked with the new centre to ensure a standardized approach to these services.

•  The provincial health centre will help to ensure that women in this province have a better chance at detecting and treating cancer than they would have otherwise, and it will provide an environment in which breast self-examination and cancer detection can be explored in a supportive manner.

•  The new breast health centre will help reduce the waiting list for diagnostic and screening tests for women. By centralizing all services in one place, services will be delivered more efficiently. The goal is to ensure that women receive a diagnostic breast test within 48 hours after being referred.

•  Health professionals acknowledge that delays during the assessment phase of abnormal breast cancer screening as well as poor integration of screening and diagnostic components are areas of significant concern. The new centre will improve the timeliness of diagnosis and access to treatment.

•  Mammographic screening in women aged 50-69 has been shown to reduce the rate of death from breast cancer by up to 40 per cent.

•  Renovations will take place at St. Clare�s to accommodate the centre. A reception/waiting area, mammography area, space for physical examinations, surgical consultation, other intervention procedures, counseling services and a film library will be included in the renovation. Essentially, women will have access to a continuum of service from assessment through to diagnosis and follow-up treatment.

Media contact:

Karen McCarthy, Communications, (709)729-6670.

Carl Cooper, Communications, (709)729-1377.

2000 03 22