Japanese government to donate two digital, 30 analogue mammography apparatuses

State Secretary of Health Nevena Karanovic stated today that through an “Improvement of Screening and Breast Cancer Prevention” project in Serbia, the Japanese government will donate two digital and 30 analogue mammography apparatuses with full accompanying equipment.

At a press conference, held on the occasion of the beginning of this project, Karanovic said that the equipment will be in health institutions by the end of August, specifying that it is worth €5.8 million.

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The equipment will be distributed to 16 health centres, 19 hospitals, three clinical-hospital centres and one clinical centre, Karanovic noted, adding that the donation from Japan and the EU will meet the requirements for the screening programme to begin in Serbia.

Karanovic recalled that since 2004, the Japanese government donated medical equipment to Serbia worth $20 million, and that last year 15 experts from Serbia attended seminars in Japanese hospitals.

Member of the advisory board for the implementation of programmes for early detection and screening for breast, cervical and colon cancer Zoran Rakocevic said that more than 4,000 women in Serbia are annually diagnosed with breast cancer, of whom more than 1,600 die.

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Rakocevic said that breast cancer is a malignant disease whose early detection leads to recovery.

He said that statistics show that more than 97% of patients can be permanently cured, but unfortunately women in Serbia contact their doctors when the situation gets more complex.

Japanese Ambassador to Serbia Toshio Tsunozaki said that the government of Japan will equip medical facilities in Serbia in order to reduce the incidence of breast cancer and stressed the need to make an effort to inform the population about the importance of the screening system.

Source Emg.rs