Radhiant’s Mammogram Match is turning every paid mammogram into a free screening for another woman, expanding breast cancer screening access for those without medical aid.
Launched for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the programme means every mammogram booked and paid for through one of Radhiant Diagnostic Imaging SA’s seven mobile units will fund an additional screening mammogram for a woman who cannot afford one.
The Radhiant Foundation will fund and deliver each matched screening through community screening days organised with partner public clinics.
Both medical scheme and cash-paid mammograms qualify for the match. Patients pay the normal cost of their own screening and receive no discount, rebate or other personal benefit. Instead, their appointment unlocks a screening for another woman.
Partner public clinics identify and invite women who qualify for the free screenings according to established criteria. Radhiant does not select beneficiaries or accept individual nominations.
Every woman receiving a matched mammogram undergoes the same clinical assessment provided to other Radhiant patients.
Reports are delivered in person through partner clinics, helping accommodate women who may not have access to email. Where further investigation is required, patients are referred through Radhiant’s existing public-sector referral pathway.
“A mammogram is a small thing to buy and an enormous thing to go without,” said Dr Anith Chacko, founder and chief executive of Radhiant Diagnostic Imaging SA.
“We already have the trucks on the road and the radiologists reading the images. So every woman who pays for her own screening with us now pays for one more, for someone who was never going to get there on her own.”
The first Mammogram Match campaign covers screenings between 1 August and 31 October 2026, spanning Women’s Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Every screening generated through the campaign will be delivered by 31 December 2026. From 1 November, Mammogram Match will continue as a permanent programme.
Radhiant operates seven mobile units from bases in Johannesburg, Bronkhorstspruit, Durban, East London and Cape Town, providing 3D mammography at workplace and community locations.
Since March 2023, the service has screened more than 23,000 women across more than 300 communities in all nine provinces.
More than 425 suspicious findings classified as BI-RADS 4 or 5 have been referred for biopsy. Radhiant emphasises that this figure represents suspicious findings requiring further investigation and not confirmed cancer diagnoses.
The Mammogram Match model is designed to use Radhiant’s existing screening infrastructure to extend access to women outside the private healthcare system.
Companies and organisations can also fund additional mammograms separately, potentially extending the number of women reached beyond those generated through individual paid screenings.
The Radhiant Foundation will publicly report the total number of screenings funded and delivered while protecting individual patient information.
For Radhiant, the programme creates a direct connection between women already able to access breast screening and those who might otherwise go without it — with every paid mammogram generating another opportunity for early detection.
