28 million women in Egypt have been invited to scan for breast cancer in addition to free treatment. The national campaign comes under the presidential initiative for the early detection of breast cancer which is is set to take place on three phases, each lasts for two months.
According to the ministry of Health, the campaign, which kicked off on Monday, is being conducted by trained and specialized medical committees in 1,030 health units in 9 governorates.
The first phase is set to continue until August 30, and covers the governorates of Alexandria, Port Said, Beheira, Qalyubia, Damietta, Matrouh, South Sinai, Fayoum, and Assiut.
The second phase is set to last from September 1 to October 30, and covers Cairo, as well as North Sinai, Red Sea, Ismailia, Suez, Kafr El-Sheikh, Menoufia, BeniSuef, Sohag, Luxor, and Aswan.
The third stage will kick off on November 1, and will include Giza, the New Valley, Gharbia, Dakahlia, Sharqia, Minya and Qena.
The idea started during the Egyptian Women's Day ceremony held in March, when President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi proposed the establishment of a fund to deal with challenges faced by Egyptian women. His proposal came after he reviewed with the Health Minister Hala Zayed the possibility to screen and treat women of breast cancer nationwide.
Earlier, Zayed said that breast cancer is the second cause of death among Egyptian women, although breast cancer's incidence rate in the country is similar to that in European countries and Japan.
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