The Northern Territory government has announced that BreastScreenNT’s mobile screening bus Millie is set to start her tour of the state.
The bus recently made its first stop outside Darwin’s Parliament House and will travel 16,000km over the next six months to regional towns and 19 remote communities.
Millie’s travels this year will see her head to towns such as Belyuen, Katherine, Jabiru and Tennant Creek before finishing in north west NT town Wadeye.
The NT government says more than 1,000 women living in remote communities visited Millie last year, while 49 out of the 6,000 women screened were found to have breast cancer.
The service offers free mammograms to women aged 50 to 74 and helps assist women across the NT access early detection screening for breast cancer.
“The NT government will always look at ways to improve our health services for Territorians in both our remote and urban centres,” NT health minister Selena Uibo says.
“Everyone deserves access to quality care. This is why we like to bring services to Territorians.
“The heartbreaking reality is that breast cancer is the most common cancer experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths after lung cancer.
“I encourage all women that are eligible and concerned to get a breast screen when Millie visits their town.”