January 12, 2011
Mammography Van finds new home in Uganda

Boston’s Mammography Van, which until late 2009 was operated jointly by Dana-Farber and the city of Boston, has a new home in Africa.

The van is now operated by the Uganda Cancer Institute, where it is being used to screen women in the outskirts of Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

The van arrived in Uganda after being donated by Dana-Farber and the city.

The journey to its final destination covered thousands of miles and involved several means of transport.

After traveling on a semi-truck trailer to Houston, the van was loaded onto a container ship for a long ocean voyage to Mombasa, Kenya.

From there, a driver navigated the van more than 700 miles inland to reach Kampala.

The journey was made possible thanks to Doc to Dock Inc., a nonprofit organization that ships medical supplies to areas in need.

The donated van was retired in October 2009 after the arrival of Dana-Farber’s Mammography Van, a more modern vehicle that uses digital imaging technology to screen women in Boston and neighboring communities.

— Eric Schuller
ericd_schuller@dfci.harvard.edu