Photo Credit: Silvia Razgova / The National

Increasing numbers of women are taking advantage of free breast screening to spot the signs of the world's most prevalent cancer, hospitals and campaigners said.

Zulekha Hospital launched a drive yesterday that offers free X-ray mammograms and consultations for the rest of this year, adding that almost 3,000 took advantage of a similar drive last year, up from 850 in 2014.

A similar ten-day campaign held in March by the Friends of Cancer Patients screened close to 7,500 people for breast cancer during the annual Pink Caravan ride across the country. In that time, 12 cases of malignant cancers were found during screenings, the most since 2011.

But the trend also casts the spotlight on the fact that free screenings are necessary, given medical insurance often does not cover such checks.

Zulekha announced a 59 per cent increase in women attending free screenings last year, compared with 2015, as part of its breast cancer campaign that is now in its sixth year.

By Nick Webster. Read more on The National.