Minister of Health Zoran Stankovic and Japanese Ambassador to Serbia Toshio Tsunozaki presented a digital mammography equipment whose value is €147,000 to the health centre "Studenica" in Kraljevo.

Stankovic said that this is the first of 39 centres in Serbia to be opened for early detection of breast cancer, which is funded by the Government of Japan with €5.8 million.

The Minister said that there are over 4,000 new cases of breast cancer recorded every year in Serbia and that approximately 1,500 women die of it every year.

If malignant changes are detected on time, while smaller than one centimetre, the percentage of patients that are cured is 97%, the Minister underlined, adding that modern mammography equipment will enable early detection of cancer and save lives.

Tsunozaki recalled that as part of the project “Improvement of screening and prevention of breast cancer in Serbia", financed by the Japanese government, two digital mammograms were bought which were installed in Kraljevo and Valjevo, as well as 30 analog mammograms with follow-up equipment in several health centres.

He underlined that the motive for this donation is the fact that Serbia has a high rate of breast cancer mortality.