Expanding mobile breast cancer screening in rural Limpopo Province, South Africa

PinkDrive – South Africa

As part of the Breast Cancer programme, this project was awarded a grant for early detection of breast cancer in October 2022.

Project objectives

The objective of this project was to expand a mobile breast cancer screening outreach programme to a rural province in South Africa, with a focus on providing access to healthcare services for citizens living in remote areas, educating the local community on breast health and recognising signs and symptoms of breast cancer, and training healthcare workers to better diagnose breast cancer at an earlier stage.

Project description

PinkDrive leveraged a wide range of collaborations to carry out this screening outreach including various governmental offices and other NGOs to provide additional services and resources. This collaboration helped to enhance the impact of the project and reach a larger number of people who lack services in the rural region with additional services including screening for cervical cancer, TB, HIV and malaria.

In order to reach as many women as possible, the project team developed and printed all flyers and material in seven of the official South African languages and included very specific drawings and graphics for those who could not read. The materials aimed to provide information about breast health and encourage self-examination. The posters advertising the outreach were distributed well in advance of the outreach to bring as many women with breast cancer concerns to the mobile mammography unit. During this early detection outreach, the team conducted 98 clinical breast examinations (CBE) and performed 38 mammograms, which resulted in 4 referrals to health clinics.

Additionally, 35 nurses and student doctors were trained in breast health care and 400 people were reached with information on breast health and self-examination. These activities contributed to raising awareness about breast cancer and promoting early detection.

Overall, the project successfully expanded a mobile breast cancer outreach screening programme to Limpopo, reached a significant number of individuals through outreach and education, collaborated with various stakeholders, and provided valuable educational resources to the community.