Small northern Ont. town loses access to mobile cancer screening

A northern Ont. city councillor says she fears many women will go without the proper health care after town loses access to mobile cancer screening.

A northern Ont. city councillor says she fears many women will go without the proper health care after town loses access to mobile cancer screening.

"In late February, I was informed that the Screen for Life coach was no longer coming to Wawa," Wawa town Counc. Cathy Cannon told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an online interview.

"I had phoned and asked why we weren’t on the list this year and I talked to one of the people in Thunder Bay and he said we were no longer on the list but not only us, White River, Dubreuilville, Hornepayne and Chapleau were no longer on the list, they only go as far as Marathon."

The bus is based out of the Thunder Bay hospital 478 kilometres away and offers mammograms, pap tests and tests for colon cancer.

Cannon said it usually comes to her community of just more than 2,700 people twice a year in the summer.

"When you look at the numbers, we had over 200 people access that bus just last year alone, just in Wawa, so people are using the bus," she said.