GRAND BAHAMA —The IL Cares Foundation has thrown its support behind the Grand Bahama non-profit, Girl Con, to provide free breast examinations for women on the island using a new testing method, the Bexa Breast Exam.
The initiative was announced earlier this week by Island Luck COO, Adrianna Fox. Eyewitness News had the opportunity to observe the Bexa exam in action at the Pelican Bay Resort, where Girl Con Founder, Katherine Forbes-Smith, is hosting the free examinations.
Members of the executive and support teams traveled to Grand Bahama to train local medical practitioners in the use of the technology and to assist with testing.
According to Bexa Founder Joe Peterson, the FDA-cleared medical examination has been adopted in several U.S. states and other countries, including Saudi Arabia.
He noted that with the breast cancer diagnostic statistics reported locally, it is crucial to increase access to such examinations.
Forbes-Smith herself was first examined using the Bexa technology two years ago. At the time, she was seeking a testing method for women who found traditional mammograms either too painful or too expensive to consider.
Girl Con has set a goal to test 1,000 women by February 2025, marking a full year since the technology was introduced in The Bahamas. By the end of November, over 800 women are expected to have been tested.
The portable, FDA-cleared device resembles a computer mouse and uses high-resolution elastography to create a map of abnormal breast tissues and masses.
Currently, testing with the device is free in Grand Bahama until February, with the cost afterward yet to be determined.