Prague - From July to September 2007, about 600,000 women were asked to undergo a free preventive breast cancer check-up.

The initiative was headed by Czech General Insurance company (VZP - Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna) in cooperation with the Czech Mammographic Association.

The campaign was aimed at a group of women perceived as the most likely to have breast cancer - the women between 45 and 74 years of age that had not undergone a preventive check-up in more than three years. 

More than every sixth woman asked, or 105,000 in total, went to take the test.

Free test every two years

"Although this number seems small, it is necessary to understand that those asked were women generally unwilling to take a preventive test, with the absolute majority of them never having undergone a mammographic check-up at all. Thus we see the participation very respectable," said Jan Daneš from the Mammographic Association.

During the check-ups performed by sixty mammographic centers all over the country, the doctors have diagnosed 850 cases of breast cancer.

Jan Daneš stated that they were mostly small tumors and that 500 hundred lives were saved thanks to the test campaign organized by the VZP insurance company. 

Experts believe that among the 500,000 women that haven't taken the test there might be 2,000 - 3,000 cases of breast cancer.

In the Czech Republic, women between 40 to 69 years may undergo a mammographic screening for free every two years.