It’s Cultural Diversity Week in Victoria. The Week is held annually in March to coincide with the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Harmony Day.
Women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are under-screened. At BreastScreen Victoria, we are committed to making our breast screening service accessible, culturally safe, and welcoming for all Victorians. That's why we develop resources in various languages and work with community organisations to ensure equitable access to breast screening.
We couldn't do this critical work without the help of excellent services and partners such as AMES Australia and the Centre for Multicultural Women's Health (CMWH).
We've seen:
- Dari-speaking community members in Cranbourne attend an information session and group booking
- Arabic-speaking AMES clients attend an information session and group booking in Broadmeadows
- Bilingual educators from CMWH deliver 14 breast health education sessions using our translated resources in Mandarin, Arabic, and Tagalog
- Volunteers from Didi Bahini Samaj Victoria (DBSV) coordinate four group bookings for 42 Nepalese women at three BreastScreen clinics - Broadmeadows, Epping, and Werribee.
- 11 group bookings with culturally diverse clients
Our special thanks to the excellent staff and volunteers at AMES, CMWH, and DBSV for their ongoing involvement, and most importantly, in supporting better breast health outcomes for many migrant women.
We are excited to continue working with culturally diverse communities to support all eligible Victorians to screen.