Mammograph Territorial Distribution and Replacement Planning in Uruguay

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in Latin America. The World Health Organization suggests that screening programs with mammographs are effective in reducing mortality. The purpose of this paper is to describe the current inventory of mammographs in Uruguay, its distribution, and replacement planning. In Uruguay, 80 mammographs are reported with an availability of 1.44 for every 10,000 women. However, 52% of mammographs are over 15 years old. The rate of obsolescent mammographs, 0.48 per 10,000 women (0.0 to 1.0 in the 19 departments of Uruguay), is used to estimate new equipment needs (0 to 6, total Uruguay 23). The results suggest the need for the Country to address the obsolescence of the equipment and to consider procurement strategies for the immediate replacement of 23 over 15 years old mammographs and fourteen 10 to 15 years old mammographs of in the near future.