The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Mammogram Access Programme received a $25,000 donation yesterday from Jarol Investment Ltd to assist with the purchase of a mammogram machine.

This will help to increase the rate of breast cancer screening on Grand Bahama, which has a very low inventory of working mammogram machines.

During the cheque presentation, Karen Wilson, marketing manager at Jarol Investment, said they are pleased to be able to give back to the community.

“Today we are giving $25,000 to (the) Mammogram Access Programme, which is a fairly new organisation that started in 2020 during COVID. The organisation will assist with screening and testing of breast cancer patients, and we feel we have to give back to help the public, especially young women who are going through a lot of hard times.”

Nikia Watson, founder of MAP, said the organisation’s mandate is to increase overall screening rates of breast cancer in the northern Bahamas.

“We started this back in 2020 when we were in lockdown, and our first initiative was to screen 2,000 women. But early into that it became clear that was going to be a difficult task because the inventory of working machines on the island is very low,” she said.

Ms Watson said MAP had to shift its focus on fundraising to acquire a mammogram machine to be more active in the screening process.

The cost of the 3D machine is around $250,000, excluding landing costs.

“The machine we are trying to get is very sophisticated and would allow us to do tomosynthesis, which is like taking a CAT scan of the breast where we can see different aspects of the breast so we could detect breast cancer at a very early stage.

“There are machines like that in The Bahamas, but they have not been operating for some time,” Ms Watson said.

She added that there is a long waiting list for screening because of the low number of working machines on the island.

“We have amassed quite a long waiting list of screenings waiting for the machines to come back up. I have not been able to meet any of my targets because of the low inventory of working machines and the high volume of patients that are waiting.”

Ms Watson said MAP targets women who are unable to afford a mammogram.

“We really want to help those women who put it (screening) off because of cost issues,” she explained.

Samantha Colton, vice chair of MAP, thanked Jarol Investment for the generous donation.

“When I approached Jarol, they responded without hesitation. I really did not know what to expect, so when I heard what they were willing to donate, I thought it could only be an act of God. And we are so grateful… because we have been praying for this for such a long time.”

She said the donation would go a very long way in helping them accomplish their goal.