Free mobile cancer-screening comes to town
IN a first for Nelson Mandela Bay, PinkDrive, a mobile cancer-screening service, will be providing free cancer screening in five of the region’s poor and vulnerable communities later this month.
The screening initiative will be held at clinics in the Bay over five days and will see the Johannesburg-based PinkDrive units conduct screenings at Motherwell Health Centre, Letitia Bam Centre, Chatty Community Centre, Walmer Gqebera Community Health Centre and Greenbushes Clinic between October 23 and 27.
PinkDrive’s Bay visit came about through a fund-raising initiative, which was spearheaded by Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip and saw R350 000 being raised by business and members of the Bay’s sporting fraternity during an exclusive function held at Remos in South End on Tuesday.
With the screening to take place during World Cancer Month, the breast cancer education and fundraising NGO will offer free services.
These will include pap smears, prostate specific antigen testing, mammograms, ultrasound and physical clinical breast examinations.
PinkDrive chief executive Noelene Kotschan said she was overwhelmed by the support shown by all attendants at the fundraiser on Tuesday.
Nelson Mandela Stars T20 franchise owner Ajay Sethi contributed R50 000 to the initiative and said at a media conference yesterday that the sports business was not only about money.
“It is very important for sports to get involved in these types of initiative,” he said, adding that PinkDrive was the franchise’s charity of choice for the year.
“Those patients diagnosed with cancer will be immediately referred to Livingstone Hospital via their referral clinic for further assessment and treatment,” Trollip said.