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Health and Community Services
March 10, 2010

New Digital Mammography Units Enhance Cancer Detection

Early cancer detection for residents in Newfoundland and Labrador has been significantly enhanced with the installment of new digital mammography units in communities across the province. The Honourable Jerome Kennedy, Minister of Health and Community Services, was joined by Vickie Kaminski, President and CEO of Eastern Health, at the Breast Screening Centre in St. John's today where they viewed one of the units that has been recently installed.

"I am pleased today to update residents of the province on our commitment in Budget 2009 to provide a full suite of digital mammography units in the province," said Minister Kennedy. "Digital mammography units provide the best imaging technology available for breast cancer screening. This technology allows the mammogram to be enlarged or magnified to provide the best quality picture and allows images to be electronically filed and stored where they can be accessed in seconds."

The Provincial Government has invested $10.9 million for the purchase of 12 new mammography units, 11 of which have been installed in health care facilities in Carbonear, Burin, Clarenville, Corner Brook, Stephenville, Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Labrador City, as well as the Breast Screening Centres in Corner Brook and St. John's. An additional mammography unit will be installed and operational at the Curtis Memorial Hospital in St. Anthony in November 2010, once renovations to that facility are complete. These units complement those already in place in St. John's, Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor, and brings the total number of digital mammography units in the province to 16.

"The benefit of breast screening is early detection of breast cancer," said Ms. Kaminski. "Breast screening picks up very small, early stage breast cancer. The use of digital mammography improves our ability to deliver better treatment options, better outcomes and more integrated breast health care for women."

"Cancer touches the lives of so many individuals and families in our province, and we are committed to investing significantly in high-quality cancer care services so that residents in need have access to these services from anywhere in the province," said Minister Kennedy. "These new units will further enhance the technologies and therapies we currently have in place for cancer diagnosis and care."

Furthering its commitment to enhance the quality of programs and services in the health care system, the Provincial Government has invested approximately $28 million in cancer prevention and treatment in the last couple of years. This includes $13.5 million to purchase an array of new medical equipment such as MRI and CT scanners to treat cancer and other diseases, $10.6 million to increase capacity for radiation treatment in the province, $2.4 million for the expansion of the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre, and $1.5 million to update screening technology and make the cervical screening program available province-wide.

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Media contacts:

Tansy Mundon
Director of Communications
Department of Health and Community Services
709-729-1377, 685-2646
tansymundon@gov.nl.ca
Deborah Collins
Manager, Media Relations
Eastern Health
709-777-1339
Deborah.Collins@easternhealth.ca

 

2010 03 10                       10:45 a.m.
 


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