By Poon Chian Hui, The Straits Times, 19 Apr 2012
FOR a year starting today, women can get screened for both breast and cervical cancers for as little as $40 - instead of up to $140.
The National Healthcare Group Diagnostics (NHGD), together with the Singapore Cancer Society, is offering pap smear tests for free, and a $10 discount for mammograms.
A pap smear test typically costs about $40, and a mammogram at a polyclinic costs $100 or $50, depending on whether it is subsidised.
The discounted tests are part of a three-year-old initiative that has been successful in encouraging women to get tested. Under the initiative, about 2,500 women came forward last year, up from 900 in 2009.
To qualify, women must visit the Singapore Cancer Society for a pap smear screening first. They then have to fill in a form there for the $10 mammogram subsidy.
After this, they can head to any of the nine polyclinics run by NHGD to take the mammogram.
Singapore Cancer Society chief executive Edmund Leong said this initiative, which is open to Singaporeans and permanent residents only, is to ensure that women can afford cancer screening. This is especially important as early detection of these cancers can save lives.
Breast cancer is the top cancer affecting women in Singapore, with an average of 1,556 new cases and some 370 deaths every year.
Sexually active women aged 25 to 69 are encouraged to take a pap smear test, which detects cervical cancer, once every three years.
Mammograms are generally important for women between 40 and 49 years old, women who have not had a mammogram in the past year, and those above 50 years old who have not been screened in the past two years.
FOR a year starting today, women can get screened for both breast and cervical cancers for as little as $40 - instead of up to $140.
The National Healthcare Group Diagnostics (NHGD), together with the Singapore Cancer Society, is offering pap smear tests for free, and a $10 discount for mammograms.
A pap smear test typically costs about $40, and a mammogram at a polyclinic costs $100 or $50, depending on whether it is subsidised.
The discounted tests are part of a three-year-old initiative that has been successful in encouraging women to get tested. Under the initiative, about 2,500 women came forward last year, up from 900 in 2009.
To qualify, women must visit the Singapore Cancer Society for a pap smear screening first. They then have to fill in a form there for the $10 mammogram subsidy.
After this, they can head to any of the nine polyclinics run by NHGD to take the mammogram.
Singapore Cancer Society chief executive Edmund Leong said this initiative, which is open to Singaporeans and permanent residents only, is to ensure that women can afford cancer screening. This is especially important as early detection of these cancers can save lives.
Breast cancer is the top cancer affecting women in Singapore, with an average of 1,556 new cases and some 370 deaths every year.
Sexually active women aged 25 to 69 are encouraged to take a pap smear test, which detects cervical cancer, once every three years.
Mammograms are generally important for women between 40 and 49 years old, women who have not had a mammogram in the past year, and those above 50 years old who have not been screened in the past two years.
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