Mobile Cancer Screening, Outreach, and Education
"We have learned through the years that early diagnosis is critical to curing breast cancer. The best breast cancer screening tools in the world are not useful if people do not have access to them."
Larry Norton, MD, Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
The American-Italian Cancer Foundation's (AICF)
Mobile Mammography Program is open to medically underserved
women age 40 and over who have not had a mammogram in the last
12 months. The large mobile clinics and mobile unit
travel to neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs to provide
no-cost breast cancer screening and educational
information to economically disadvantaged and medically
underserved women and their families.
During the last 20 years, AICF has provided screening services for over 60,000 women.
AICF's Mobile Mammography Program brings
breast cancer screening directly to the women most in need of
no-cost services. In addition to eliminating economic and
transportation barriers, the Program eliminates cultural and
linguistic hurdles to health care access by partnering with
trusted groups in various communities. 
AICF works with an extensive
network of over 200 community centers, religious institutions,
schools, senior centers, elected officials, health care
providers, and other organizations to offer mammograms,
clinical breast exams, and instruction in breast self-exam to
the women that these groups already serve.
Early detection of breast cancer is the key to survival, yet many of the women in the neighborhoods AICF serves are not getting annual mammograms. By bringing breast cancer screening services directly to these women, AICF is encouraging them to make their health a priority, spreading awareness, and educating women and their families about the importance of early detection.
To download a Mobile Mammography Program application, please click here.
To view a list of cancer resources, please click here.
To Name A Mammography Day or contribute to the Mobile Mammography Program, please click here.
Major funding provided by Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund, National Breast Cancer Foundation, New York City Council, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, The New York Community Trust, and New York State Department of Health.
For additional information, please call Aanchal Dhar, MPH, Director of Cancer Screening, Outreach, and Education at 212-628-9090 or send an e-mail to aanchaldhar@americanitaliancancer.org.
These photographs demonstrate the three components of AICF's Mobile Mammography Program (from top to bottom): mammogram, clinical breast exam, and instruction in breast self-exam.
Photography by Annabel Clark. All rights reserved.
