Rolls-Royce, Friedrichshafen Hospital and discovering hands bring new breast cancer screening method to Lake Constance

• Business unit Power Systems and BKK mtu support breast cancer prevention with tactilography examination

• Early breast cancer detection can save lives

Rolls-Royce has entered into a collaboration with Friedrichshafen Hospital and discovering hands, a non-profit social enterprise, as part of a larger breast health campaign. discovering hands (dh) trains blind and visually impaired women to become medical tactile examiners, who are used in the early detection of breast cancer and, according to dh, sustainably improve it through their special tactile skills. The aim of the joint initiative is to introduce this examination method in practices and clinics in the Lake Constance region.

As a pilot company, Rolls-Royce Power Systems has joined forces with BKK mtu to offer all interested female employees at the Friedrichshafen site such an examination free of charge. The 136 appointments scheduled so far at the breast center in the hospital in Friedrichshafen were fully booked in less than 24 hours. “This is a great response to our offer,” said Dr. Thelse Godewerth, chief people officer and labor director at the Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, during the public launch of the campaign at the breast cancer center in Friedrichshafen. “For us, it is an important concern to sensitize our workforce to preventive health care and to support them in this. dh’s offer brings a whole new quality to breast cancer screening. We’re excited to take this forward with the Friedrichshafen Hospital Breast Center and discovering hands.”

dh trains blind women with an excellent sense of touch in the diagnostic method tactilography. Thus qualified, they can use their skills to detect even very small changes in breast tissue at an early stage. More than 130 specialist practices and clinics in Germany already employ a specially trained medical tactile examiner. “Tactilography expands and improves the diagnostic possibilities for breast cancer. It complements imaging procedures by providing a gentle method that is free of equipment and radiation. The tactile examiner can find about 30 percent more and up to 50 percent smaller tissue changes (from 6 mm) than doctors (1 to 2 cm). In the early stages, breast cancer is very curable in the vast majority of cases,” explained Arndt Helf, Managing Director of discovering hands Service GmbH.

Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ health management “Life” had raised awareness of the relevance of breast cancer screening with a women’s health campaign in October, conveying information and tips through lectures and workshops with Nadja Will, an expert in breast health and cancer communication known from the media. “My vision of early detection is to educate and coach breast-conscious women in Germany. We won't be able to save 70,000 women from diagnosis each year, but we will be able to save 18,000 from death by detecting early enough and educating breast-aware women,” said Nadja Will, a cancer survivor herself. For men, Power Systems offers a parallel cancer prevention campaign.
  

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

1. Rolls-Royce pioneers the power that matters to connect, power and protect society. We have pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our operations by 2030 (excluding product testing) and joined the UN Race to Zero campaign in 2020, affirming our ambition to play a fundamental role in enabling the sectors in which we operate achieve net zero carbon by 2050.
2. Rolls-Royce Power Systems is headquartered in Friedrichshafen in southern Germany and employs around 9,000 people. The product portfolio includes mtu-brand high-speed engines and propulsion systems for ships, power generation, heavy land, rail and defence vehicles and for the oil and gas industry as well as diesel and gas systems and battery containers for mission critical, standby and continuous power, combined generation of heat and power, and microgrids and is intensively engaged in the development of climate-neutral solutions.
3. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces and navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
4. Annual underlying revenue was £10.95 billion in 2021, underlying operating profit was £414m and we invested £1.18 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
5. Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a publicly traded company (LSE:RR., ADR: RYCEY, LEI: 213800EC7997ZBLZJH69).