From the February of this year, Beijing began to carry out free pilot project of screening cervical cancer and breast cancer on Beijing-origin women of the right age, in Xicheng, Chaoyang and Huairou districts. The screening on cervical cancer is for women between 25 and 65, while breast cancer screening for women between 40 and 60.

To guarantee the quality of the screening and subsequent diagnosis and treatment, on the basis of nearby screening and for the convenience of the people, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau appointed 52 medical institutions to screen the two cancers, and opened green channels for patients who needed further diagnosis and treatment. Among the appointed medical institutions, there are 11 third-class hospitals including Beijing Cancer Hospital, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Peoples Hospital of Peking University, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, 7 second-class hospitals and 34 first-class medical institutions and community service centers.

Till the middle of October, 276,831 women have been screened for the two cancers in the three pilot regions, among the screened, 156,309 are screened for cervical cancer and 120,522 for breast cancer. At present, 41 women have been diagnosed and received operation, among which 12 cases of cervical cancer and 27 cases of breast cancer, 2 cases of other malignant tumors of gynecology. In addition, 195 patients with pre-cancer pathological changes were diagnosed. Among the screened women, some were diagnosed with other diseases of gynecologic and mammary diseases, in addition to those with malignant tumor and pre-cancer diseases.

Cervical cancer and breast cancer are the commonest malignant tumor in women. The first goal of "screening on two cancers" is to check out the two cancers at an early stage so as to improve the effects of treatment and dramatically reduce cancer-related mortality rate  through earlier treatment. The second goal is to identify pre-cancer pathological changes when there are no evident symptoms or disease-related body features, so to prevent the pre-cancer from developing into malignant tumors and reduce the incidence rate of cancers by carrying out timely treatment. Early-stage identification and in-time treatment will not only secure better effects of treatments but also reduce the medical expenses. For example, treatment of cervical cancer or breast cancer at the early stage costs about 10,000 to 20,000 RMB yuan, but about 100,000 RMB yuan in the later period. All these show that this project aiming to prevent is of great significance for securing the health of women. 

To secure the health of women, the Beijing Municipal Government has decided to continue to carry out the project of "screening on two cancers" next year and will invest 160 million RMB yuan in this project. The project will be spread across the city and more women of the right age will benefit from this policy of the government.