Free mammogram camp offers peace of mind

Dubai: Zahra Satarnezhaj is 42, her niece has breast cancer, and both her mother and another niece are suffering from lymphoma — cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system.

All three of these close family members have been diagnosed with the disease in the past two-and-a-half years.

"I had a mammogram three years ago, but I didn't go last year for myself because I was busy with my family," she told Gulf News at the Safe and Sound mammogram camp at BurJuman on Friday.

"Caring for them, I forget myself, it's a serious thing," the Iranian resident of Dubai said.

Deserving women

The camp was held from 12 noon to 8pm on Friday, and was designed to offer free mammograms to deserving women — those who perhaps cannot afford to pay for the test themselves. Many women visited the camp to nominate others, while some nominated themselves.

"We are the main engine, if we go wrong, everything in the house goes wrong," Hasumati R. Dhanak, 40, Indian market research freelancer and mother said at the camp.

"I've just crossed my 40th birthday. We are working as well as we don't take care of ourselves," she said of women. The mother of two was born and brought up in Dubai and has a mammogram every six months. From 8am to 2pm every day she works, then for the rest of the day, she says "I'm a typical housewife".

Doctors advise that women aged 40 and above have a mammogram every year. Normally this check-up can cost between Dh400 and Dh750, depending on whether an ultrasound is also needed. With an ultrasound, the tests cost can rise to almost Dh1,000.

Shamin Jahan Siddiqui, 53, has been living in Dubai for 26 years. She read about the mammogram camp in Gulf News.

Healthy lifestyle

"I'm very careful, I exercise and I eat healthily. My mother and father were also very careful. I've felt lumps before in my breasts," she said, adding that she's going to have the check-up soon.

For 43-year-old Liza, a Filipina, "prevention is better than cure. I want to ensure I'm healthy", she said.

"I don't want to wait in case something will happen," she said.