For every thousand mammogram tests undertaken in the Algarve there were three cancer cases detected between 2008 and 2010.
Project coordinator Filomena Horta Correia of the Regional Health Administration of the Algarve (ARS) said: “The increase of public awareness and efforts of health professionals have contributed to around 58 per cent of the women in the region now taking the test.”
Health officials contacted women aged between 50 and 69 to offer free tests in a mobile unit installed at health centres across the region.
