Breast cancer sufferers living in remote areas of the Northern Territory will be given better support thanks to a $10,000 grant from the National Breast Cancer Centre.

Tiwi Islands, Maningrida, Port Keats and Peppimenarti women will be trained as peer support officers, who will assist cancer patients.

The project was one of four across Australia to receive funding.

The Territory’s Cancer Council chief executive, Helen Smith, says they have chosen women who are respected in their communities to take on the peer support officer role.

“We hope to learn from these women, who are leaders within their areas in their communities,” she said.

“We’ll learn so we can actually overcome some of the challenges that cultural barriers put up, so that we can make things easier for them so that in turn the women will access the treatments that are available.”

Source: ABC Online