Breast cancer screening program
Prevention is our mission
The purpose of breast cancer screening is not to prevent breast cancer, but to to decrease breast cancer mortality by detecting breast cancer as early as possible, before symptoms appear.
This is of great concern as breast cancer is the most frequent cancer type among women in Curaçao.
Curaçao is very unique in the non-Latin Caribbean, as other countries only offer opportunistic mammograms.
Screening step by step
Step 1. You receive an invitation with a time and date for your screening at Molenplein.
Step 2. In case the time and date does not suit you, you contact Fundashon Prevenshon to reschedule (toll-free via 0800-1811).
Step 3. You are in time for your appointment and announce yourself at the counter. Here, your personal details like your address etc will be checked and you will receive the Consent Form for you to fill in and sign.
Step 4. The lab technician will summon you and guide you to the changing room. Here, you will take off your upper garment and once ready, you enter the mammogram area.
Step 5. The lab technician will ask for your ID and will check with you when you had your last mammogram. The lab technician will explain how the mammogram will be done and is ready to answer all your questions. Once the mammogram is ready, you can enter the changing room and put on your upper garment again. The lab technician will inform you to call your family docter in 2 weeks for the results.
Women 45-75
An invitation letter is sent to the target group, every two years with the time and date of the appointment. Women who are being treated for a breast-related disease, or who have had a complete mastectomy, are excluded from the screening.
3D X-rays
Two X-rays of each breast are taken by a radiographer. The x-rays are assessed by two independent Radiologists. A third Radiologist may also assess the mammograms when a consensus is not reached.
Audit LRCB
The breast cancer screening is audited biannually by the Dutch Expert Center for Screening (LRCB) to guarantee the quality of the professionals and equipment and to provide improvement recommendations.