JN Group offers free mammograms

The JN Group will be financing mammograms for 150 women on World Mammography Day, October 20, at the Jamaica Cancer Society (JCS) headquarters on Lady Musgrave Road in St Andrew.

Saniah Spencer, marketing executive at JN Group, says the initiative, which is part of its 'Power of Pink' breast cancer awareness campaign, has been made possible through a collaboration with member company JN Money Services and the JCS.

"Mammograms are costly for several women and are not as readily accessible as we think. In many rural parishes there are no medical facilities that offer this service, and those which do can be expensive. Therefore, in many instances women are forced to travel outside their parish to access the services," Spencer said.

Doctors use a mammogram to look for early signs of breast cancer. There are only three facilities in the public healthcare system that offers the services. These are the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew, Kingston Public Hospital, and the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.

Spencer said the free-mammogram initiative was oversubscribed last year, a testament to the high demand for the service.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Jamaican women. Michael Leslie, acting executive director of the JCS, said that "it is predicted that one out of every 21 women in Jamaica will develop breast cancer in her lifetime". He said that 1,208 new breast cancer cases were diagnosed in 2020, which was an increase of more than 25 per cent when compared to 2018.