I am glad to hear that the National Healthcare Group Diagnostics, Breast Cancer Foundation and Singapore Cancer Society have implemented the Community Mammobus programme to encourage more women to go for breast cancer screenings ('Mammobus' brings first-time breast screening to more women, March 18).

The programme is important in helping to take healthcare to more women. Breast cancer accounted for almost one in three cancer diagnoses among women in Singapore between 2011 and 2015, according to the Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Registry Report 2015.

However, the Breast Cancer Foundation found that more than half of 1,005 women above 15 years old who were surveyed have limited knowledge of breast cancer.

By making the cost low, and free for first-timers, more women will be inclined to undergo the screening. It is beneficial for women to check frequently to ensure an early diagnosis if they do have cancer, and the Mammobus encourages women to stop procrastinating. Accessibility is also enhanced through the use of the mobile bus.

Previously, women had to wait in long queues in the polyclinic for a screening. This programme speeds up waiting times and hence makes a health screening less troublesome.

More of such programmes should be implemented. Together with the free cervical cancer screenings for foreign domestic helpers, it is heartening to see the Government paying such attention to the health of women.

Shaun Loh, 16

Secondary 4 student