OID donates cancer screening mobile unit to Jamaica

JAMAICA’S HEALTHCARE system is to get a boost with the provision of a mobile cancer screening unit that has been purchased by the Organisation for International Development (OID) for donation to Jamaica.

The mobile unit, valued in excess of US $180,000, will be used to screen for breast, cervical and prostate cancers and will be operated by OID in conjunction with the Manchester-based Northern Caribbean University. The 40-foot mobile full-service unit will have a registration and intake area, full service examination room, and a mammography machine.

Part of the larger Jamaica Mobile Cancer Screening Project, it will be operationalised to focus on processes for registration, screening procedures, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care.

According to the head of OID, Dr Roy Streete, the mobile unit will be able to travel throughout Jamaica to provide cancer-screening services for men and women in under-served areas – urban, rural and industrial.

He said that the mobile unit would be able to provide comprehensive breast, cervical and prostrate screenings using minimally invasive methods, such as ultra-sound, pap smears and blood screenings.

He noted that breast cancer is the most common cancer in Jamaican women, while prostate cancer is prevalent in Jamaican men. Mammograms and Pap smear tests are the first steps in cancer screening for women, and PSA blood test is the first step for men, but Dr Streete said that many people in Jamaica, especially in the under-served areas, do not get such tests. This is as the cost of such procedures is prohibitive, and there is usually a long wait time between screening and receiving test results so that treatment can begin.

PARTNERSHIP

Dr Streete credits the health ministry’s efforts to get concessions from the Ministry of Finance and Planning for the shipping of the unit to Jamaica.

“This is a partnership between Jamaicans in the diaspora, the relevant ministries in Jamaica and a non-profit organisation in the diaspora,” Dr Streete said.

The main sponsor of the mobile cancer screening unit is Caribbean Foods Delight, the New York-based Jamaican-owned producers of Jamaican cuisine and baked products.

In 2022, OID began discussions with Northern Caribbean University to develop an action plan to operationalise a mobile mammography unit. In 2024 both parties signed a memorandum of understanding on the responsibilities of both parties. Later that same year a unit was identified and purchased. OID currently has a mobile dental unit operating in Jamaica.

Jamaica’s consul general to New York, Alsion Wilson, congratulated OID on the provision of the mobile unit noting that it will play a vital role in reaching women who often face barriers to early detection due to cost, geography and transportation.

“This mobile unit brings healthcare directly to those who need it most,” said the consul general.

She lauded the cooperation between global partners and the people of Jamaica remarking that working together the diaspora can bring quality healthcare directly to the people.

“Together we can ensure that quality care is not a privilege, but a right accessible to all,” Wilson said.