Events have been lined up to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month including a fun walk, sticker day, fashion show and a ?Girls? Night In.?

The 10th anniversary of the event in Bermuda is to be marked by Health Minister Patrice Minors on Monday when she is due to read a proclamation from the steps of City Hall. But already the word is being spread about the importance for women to carry out their own self-examination breast checks each month and, if over the age of 40, to have a yearly mammogram examination.

Early detection is the key that has helped many who have developed breast cancer to make a 100 percent recovery. The message is being taken seriously by more and more women and maintaining that progress is the aim of the Bermuda TB Cancer and Health Association and the staff of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

It is the Bermuda TB Cancer and Health Association that again leads the month-long campaign that co-incides with breast cancer awareness campaigns around the world.

Rachael Andrade, education officer with the association, said one of this year?s events would again be the 5k/3k fun walk on October 4 from Barr?s Park starting at 6.30 p.m.

?Money raised from the walk goes to our fundraising, which is to buy a digi-mammography machine. This is a two-year campaign as the machine costs between $300,000 and $500,000.?

The Association has a screening facility and a cancer research centre at Point Finger Road. It also runs educational programs for children.

Between 70 and 80 women are treated by the Association each year, said Ms Andrade. Women aged 20 and over should carry out their own self-examination of their breasts once a month. For those over 30 there is the addition of a clinical breast check as part of the annual wellness check for women, and for those over 40 a mammography is a yearly requirement.

At the KEMH a stereotactic biopsy procedure is now available that makes checking out suspected cancers in the breast area a less intrusive, speedier, less traumatic experience. The state-of-art equipment also means that the scarring normally associated with taking a tissue sample is greatly reduced.

KEMH?s senior mammographer Carla Cann said it is all about ?breast health? as she stressed the hospital is accredited to the American Cancer Society and even attracts American patients who prefer to have their checks done in Bermuda because of the good service they receive at the hospital.

The mammography checks take about 10 minutes and a patient can be in and out within half-an-hour.

Women who have mammography at the hospital during the awareness month of October will receive a gift. The hospital is also putting on a lobby display and making information available to highlight breast health.

Meanwhile, the Bermuda TB Cancer and Health Association has a number of events including on October 10 a ?Tell A Friend Tuesday? when people are encouraged to call a friend and ?save a life? by spreading the message. On October 20 it is ?Wear a Sticker Day?, there is a fashion show and tea planned for October 22 and a Girls Night In also scheduled for this month.