Aruna Ramesh, Mumbai: Any number of articles recommend annual check-ups for women above 40 as a precautionary measure to detect early signs of breast cancer.

However, many daunted by the lengthy waits and the equally lengthy consultations that go on in bigger cities.

Mumbai sees an innovative way of promoting breast cancer awareness. Where normally the wait for consultation can be dauntingly long, there is a far easier option: a mobile mammography unit. 43-year-old bank employee Pushpa Murali is quite happy with the set-up.

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"It's a procedure of only 10-15 minutes and it's very comfortable." To use this facility, one merely needs to register their name with area co-ordinators for the NGO Helping Hand 4 Cancer Care.

"If there are more than 25 ladies (in a given area), we send the bus to their housing colonies or corporate offices," says Geeta S Advani, the Founder Member of the NGO.

The check-up and consultation's combined costs come to just a hundred rupees a year, Several studies have shown that 80 per cent of Indian women seek medical help only when the cancer reaches an advanced stage.

"Breast Cancer, if diagnosed at an early stage has a cure rate of more than ninety percent," says oncologist Dr Suresh H Advani. Mammography on wheels is preventive health-care made convenient.