Breastscreen WA visits the Wheatbelt

The valuable mobile clinics will be visiting a variety of towns including Corrigin, Kulin, Hyden, Pemberton and Brookton.

Any woman who is 40 years or older with no symptoms is urged to book a free appointment.

Western Australians have been fortunate to receive screenings from 1989, with the first clinic in Cannington.

In 1991 the first mobile clinic was commissioned and today there are four mobile vans in use, with a fifth one underway.

With more than 100 towns to visit every year, these five mobile clinics have their work cut out for them, going everywhere from Wyndham, across to Kalgoorlie and down to Esperance.

According to BreastScreen WA medical director Liz Wylie, the inclusion of the fifth van will be instrumental in increasing their capacity, especially in hotspots where the population has grown rapidly.

"If you're a Western Australian woman over 40 we have an obligation to provide equity of access," Dr Wylie said.

"We have strategies to provide an equitable service to women everywhere.

"In sites such as Newman, when we visit we fly the women from Jigalong into Newman to get screened."

With the need to travel on sealed roads due to the sensitive medical equipment onboard, Ms Wylie also shared her excitement for the new areas they were now able to visit because of road upgrades.

"They've opened a road to Lombadina (north of Broome in the Kimberley region)," she said.

"So that meant we were able to visit Bidyadanga and Lombadina which has been fantastic, we are really happy about that."

So, if this is your 40th year, what can you expect from a screening?

Ms Wylie said women could expect the appointment to take only 20 minutes, including paperwork.

"That's a short amount of time for a significant result, with regular screenings reducing the probability of dying from breast cancer by 50 per cent," she said.

"Screen mammography has the most literature about its effectiveness than any other medical procedure in the world.

"It's been shown that for women who screen regularly there is a 50pc reduction in the likelihood of dying of breast cancer than there is for women who don't screen.

"Having any breast cancer detected at a much smaller size just gives you a much better prognosis.

"With many women avoiding regular checkups due to fear of pain, Dr Wylie also encourages them to still book in, but has a few tips to ease any anxiety.

"About 25pc of the population have some breast pain and 10pc have significant breast pain," she said.

"We recommend you come in at the time in your cycle where your breast pain is at its lowest, take two Panadol and our staff are very attuned to making it as comfortable, quick and efficient as possible."

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With more than 30 years working for BreastScreen WA, Dr Wylie has seen the instances of breast cancer double, from one in 14 to a one in seven chance of getting the disease.

"It's a free examination which is really easy to book on our online platform, so just do it," she said.

"Make the time to look after yourself, women are so busy looking after everyone else, but you're not doing your family any favors when you don't increase your chances of being around as long as you possibly can.

"For a once-every-two-years appointment, it's just such a worthwhile investment."