Availability of mammographs in Mexico: Is it possible to expand coverage

Abstract

Breast cancer screening coverage in Mexico is limited. It is necessary to configure the Mexican health system to make it capable of producing more mammograms, without neglecting quality and diagnostic opportunity. To project the coverage of breast cancer screening programs according to the mammographs availability in the Mexican Health System. An exploratory study was conducted correlating the number mammographs available in the Mexican Health System with women between 40 and 69 who are the target of screening programs in Mexico. The analysis consisted of calculating the coverage of breast cancer screening programs if each mammograph could perform 6336 screening mammograms per year. All the calculations were made with the information of the year 2020 as the most current data in terms of population density. It was determined that the number of mammographs is enough to raise the offer of screening studies to ≈50% at the national level. There are even states whose coverage capacity is projected above 70%. Some of them are Mexico City, Colima, Durango, Quintana Roo, Zacatecas, Baja California Sur and Coahuila. Also, it was observed that the distribution of mammographs is not equitable in the national territory, suggesting investment both in equipment and in screening strategies for breast cancer. Our data show that it is possible to advance in preventing breast cancer in Mexico, although the improvement of the management capacities of the Mexican Health System is required to improve both the coverage and quality of the breast cancer screening programs.