Women in the Amazon Basin to Receive First Mammograms Courtesy of Americas Amigas

NEW YORK & SAO PAOLO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Americas Amigas (http://www.americasamigas.org.br) donated two new mammogram machines this June to the Brazilian Navy to be used in their floating ship clinics that serve residents in small communities in the Amazon River basin. The donation of two analog GE Health Performas will provide mammograms to an estimated 4,000 women a year in a northern Brazil region who have never had access to this life-saving technology.

“Americas Amigas is proud to be part of this pioneer project, with the Navy in the Amazon Basin, where women will receive, for the first time, breast cancer evaluations.”

The mammography machines were donated to the Brazilian Navy which provides health services to the population of the Amazon river basin operating from the ships: NAsH Doutor Montenegro and the NA Para. The Navy uses these ships to provide dental treatments, gynecological treatments, intensive care, vaccines, etc. as they can reach these remote areas via these ships.

The ships will first be retrofitted to accommodate the heavy machines and are expected to offer their mammograms in late August. GE Health has given support to help the Navy to adapt these machines on their ships. GE Health is providing training and an extra year of maintenance and warranty.

Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson A. Jobim stated, “The needy river populations of the Amazon region will be the great beneficiaries of the mammography machines donated by Americas Amigas. The hospital-ships in which the machines will be installed annually serve tens of thousands of patients along the rivers in the Amazon area. In most cases, the benefitted communities depend entirely on military-provided healthcare, and, from now on, will have access to this instrument of breast cancer prevention, without having to travel days to the nearest hospital in a big city.”

These two machines bring the number purchased this year with donations raised by Americas Amigas to a total of 10, and are expected to screen approximately 45,000 women for breast cancer throughout Brazil.

Americas Amigas founder, Barbara Sobel, noted, “Americas Amigas is proud to be part of this pioneer project, with the Navy in the Amazon Basin, where women will receive, for the first time, breast cancer evaluations.” Ms. Sobel, the wife of a former Ambassador to Brazil and who now resides in New York, was inspired to start this program by a similar initiative sponsored by the US Department of State.

In Brazil, it is estimated that every 36 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer. There, 44% of all breast cancer cases are detected at an advanced stage, making it extremely difficult to treat and cure. As a result, death rates in Brazil are very high: 42% of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not survive.

The Pan American Health and Education Foundation, a partner of Americas Amigas headquartered in Washington, D.C., has set up a page on their website dedicated to this project and is accepting donations that will be used to support Americas Amigas. The link to more information and to donate is: http://www.pahef.org/amigas.

About Americas Amigas:

Americas Amigas, a non-profit organization, was founded in 2009 by Barbara Sobel, Chella Safra, Maria Antonia Civitia, Andrea Pereira, Francisca de Paula Harley, Eric Street, Sergio Simon, Carlos Alberto Vieira, Ida Sztamfater, Laura Gould, Marcelo Secaf, and Richard Aldrich Jr. Headquartered in Sāo Paulo, Brazil, they have, in a short period of time, made mammography more accessible to low-income women in Brasil. The group’s initial focus has been to raise funds for the purchase of mammography machines to be donated to institutions providing free early detection services.

As of August, 2010, 10 mammography machines have been donated to institutions in the States of São Paulo, Amazonas, Pará, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. Through these donations they expect to reach approximately 45,000 women who would not otherwise have been able to do their exams without waiting until it may be too late. This is an increase of approximately 330% over the number of patients previously cared for by their beneficiary institutions prior to their donations. Americas Amigas is proud to be saving lives and making a positive difference in peoples’ families.

For more information, and to make a donation to fund more breast cancer health screening for the women of Brazil, please visit their web site: http://www.americasamigas.org.br.