Half-million-dollar need

The Barbados Cancer Society (BCS) Breast Screening Programme (BSP) is in need of new medical imaging technology to store mammogram images and reports.

Medical Coordinator for the BSP Dr Shirley Jhagroo said overseas manufacturers have estimated that the specialised Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) would cost around US$250 000 (BDS$500 000).

Speaking at the launch of Walk for the Cure 2023 at Sugar Bay Hotel on Thursday, she said the BCS is hoping to raise US$75 000 (BDS$150 000) from the October 1 event to make a downpayment for the vital system.

“Our vision for the next three years is to see the improvement in the PACS system used for storage of the mammograms. The present PACS system at the BSP, after servicing us for 10-plus years, has outgrown its capacity and needs to be overhauled.

“The overhaul was costing nearly as much as a new system; a decision was made to go with a new system. The cost for the system, which provided unlimited memory with iCloud backup, is US$250 000. This now becomes BSP’s proposed project for the next three years,” she said.

PACS is a medical imaging technology used to securely store and digitally transmit electronic images and clinically-relevant reports. It eliminates the need to manually file and store, retrieve and send sensitive information, films and reports. Instead, the medical documentation and images can be securely housed in off-site servers and safely accessed essentially from anywhere in the world using PACS software, workstations and mobile devices.

From left: Patron of Walk for the Cure Dame Billie Miller, FirstCaribbean International Bank Walk for the Cure Manager Samantha Suttle, Managing Director of FirstCaribbean International Bank Donna Wellington, Medical Coordinator of the Barbados Cancer Society Breast Screening Programme Dr Shirley Jhagroo, and the Barbados Cancer Society’s Walk for the Cure Manager Michelle Straughn, showing the 2023 Walk for the Cure T-Shirt.

Dr Jhagroo said the BPS has reached an agreement with the manufacturers that after the down payment is made, the remainder of the cost of the system can be paid in 60 instalments of US$3 000 (BDS$6 000). She said the agreement comes with a four-year extended warranty and no interest.

Meanwhile, addressing the launch, Managing Director of CIBC FirstCaribbean Donna Wellington said that while the walk’s route was changed in 2022, ending at the National Botanical Gardens where there was more space, walkers and runners will return to the old route this year by popular demand.

The event is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. outside FirstCaribbean’s Regional Head Office in Warrens. Participants will go up Hinds Hill, turn right at the Cave Hill and Hinds Hill intersection, up to Queen’s College, turn right by the traffic lights, continue through Clermont, return to Highway 2A, turn right opposite InchCape Motors and back to Warrens.

“We don’t just do this for the look of it and the optics of Warrens washed in pink. We do it as a labour of love. Love for those we have lost – family, colleagues and friends, love for those presently battling this disease and those family members who have to take care of them, and love for those caregivers, doctors, nurses and researchers who are daily hunting for the case and cure for cancer,” Wellington said.

“Daily we are hearing of women and some men who are being diagnosed, and I don’t know about you but I feel as if the numbers are increasing, as if I am hearing of more and more people who are being afflicted, and the ages are getting younger and younger.

“Gone are the days when this was a disease contracted by our grandmothers or our mothers’ friends. Now we are hearing of young women in the prime of their lives and their careers, women with young children and teenagers to take care of who are diagnosed with this disease. So, this is why we do this,” she declared.

Wellington said that while the walk will take place in all 12 territories in which the bank operates, Barbados sets the example for the others as having the longest walk, attracting approximately 20 000 participants.

The bank executive said the Walk Committee has already started planning the activities for the season, including a Sweet Summer Days Back-to-School Charity Fair which will take place at the old BET grounds in Wildey, St Michael, on Sunday, August 27.

From that day, Walk for the Cure shirts will be on sale at $30 and $35 with company logos printed on the back. The shirts will also be on sale at the Barbados Cancer Society in Henry’s Lane, St Michael.

From the first Saturday in September, a team will be at Sheraton Centre selling the shirts and other trinkets.

Participants attending the walk on October 1 are encouraged to park at Sky Mall in Haggatt Hall or at Queens College. A park-and-ride system will be provided at a cost of $2 per person.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb