$2M fundraiser launched to replace Sask. mobile breast cancer screening bus
The wheels were put in motion on Monday to replace a vital piece of medical equipment for women in rural and remote areas of Saskatchewan.
A 20-year-old bus offering breast cancer screening has come to the end of the road so now there’s an urgency to replace it.
"If we did not have this mobile screening program more women with just not do it. That is a shame," cancer survivor Kelly Rea told CTV News.
Rea beat cervical cancer and visits this mobile screening bus every time it’s in her home community of Norquay to ensure the cancer hasn’t come back or spread. This provides her peace of mind and convenience.
“The mobile screening bus makes it a lot easier for me because I live so far away, in the middle of nowhere basically,” she said.
The bus stops in 40 of those remote areas each year and in a province with a lot of isolated rural areas, it is significant. It means women don’t have to travel long distances to have a mammogram which is a prohibiting factor for some.
Now, the aging bus is taking its final pit stop.
“The bus has been broken down for a few weeks. Parts are difficult to get, supply chain issues make it even harder,” Deb Bulych, Interim CEO, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency said.
As a result, the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan and Cancer Agency are hoping to raise $2 million to buy a new bus.
“We know that we need to have the new technology to provide this service to the people of Saskatchewan,” Bulych said.
A quarter of a million mammograms have been delivered on the bus since the beginning and without it, less screening could be the reality.
“Without the bus, women in remote areas would have to come into the two centres to get their mammograms or other tertiary centers. I hate to think about it. I don’t want to think about it,” Bulych says.
Early detection of breast cancer leads to increased survival rates, and Bulych says, having equal access for all women in the province is vital.
The goal is to have enough money raised by March to cover the cost of a new bus, and ultimately help save lives.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.