OCTOBER is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time when women are urged to prioritise their breast health, get screened, and act early. But the Jamaica Cancer Society (JCS) has started the month without a functioning mammogram machine, forcing hundreds of women to seek screening elsewhere.

A mammogram is a specialised, low-dose, X-ray image of the breast used to detect early signs of breast cancer, tumours, or cysts before they can be felt by hand. The non-government organisation, which prides itself on providing affordable screenings for women, said its only machine went out of service on August 29, 2026.

Prior fund-raising efforts to replace it before it stopped working have fallen short of the more than $35 million needed to purchase a new machine. Executive director of the JCS, Roshane Reid-Koomson, said the organisation is down but not out, appealing to Jamaicans both locally and internationally to help with replacing the equipment. “I feel very sad to see the mammogram department in darkness and closed, knowing that we are unable to provide the test that we so strongly encourage women to do,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“We can’t do any mammograms up here. It’s disheartening. Some of the customers, when we tell them, you can hear when their voices drop because some of them depend on us because we are the most affordable, in terms of cost. Because we are a charity, so we ensure that we keep our costs at a minimum so that the ordinary person can afford it,” said Reid-Koomson.

She said thousands of women come in for mammograms annually, with the numbers ranging from a high of 15,000 to a low of 3,000. She noted that while most women are from Kingston, St Andrew, and St Catherine, some travel from as far as Clarendon, St Thomas, Portland, and even Montego Bay, St James, to take advantage of the affordable service.

“The impact is severe because we are in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the interest and awareness are heightened at this time, as you can imagine. People started to call us from September to book their appointments, but we cannot accept those appointments because the machine is not working,” said the executive director.

“It doesn’t make sense for us to fix the machine because the cost to fix it is so high that it only makes sense for us to direct those funds towards a new machine. What the supplier has advised us is that the parts to supply this machine [that is broken] are obsolete, so we can’t even find the parts that we require for the machine,” she explained.

Reid-Koomson said the organisation has been redirecting women to other private facilities to get screened, but the inconvenience and added cost have led some to delay acting. “There are some customers that we have that we realise want to wait ,but we have to advise them that this is not a waiting thing. We will not advise any individual who wants to get a mammogram done, or any individual who is due a mammogram, to wait until we get a machine, so we have been redirecting our customers to other entities and will continue to do so,” she told the Sunday Observer.

The executive director noted that the organisation did apply for a grant through the Ministry of Health and Wellness to purchase a new machine, which is under consideration, but they have not received anything in writing that has been concretised. “I would just like to appeal to Jamaica to assist us in any way possible. We have been on this fund-raising drive for a while, because we knew that the machine would reach the end-of-life stage based on how it has been operating. We started the fund-raising drive a few years ago — and especially last year, we heightened that drive — but we weren’t able to yield much from it,” said the executive director.

“We are at the stage now where we are inoperable in terms of offering mammograms and so we are appealing to Jamaicans here and abroad to assist us, contribute whatever you can. Every mickle makes a muckle. Please donate whatever you can so the Jamaica Cancer Society can get a new mammogram machine,” she pleaded. Individuals who wish to donate can visit the JCS website at https://jcs.live/donate/ Meanwhile, the foundation said it continues to offer its many other services to individuals seeking to get cancer screenings.

“We continue to offer pap smears, we continue to offer prostate screening, and we continue to advocate and do our educational sessions at corporate entities, churches, and facilities,” she said. Reid-Koomson further urged individuals to get screened. “Check it, catch it, beat it. It’s important for you to be aware of your body. It’s important for you to check your body. It’s important for you to get your annual screening done, and it’s also important to follow up if your results are abnormal,” she stressed.