Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for her attendance and for her opening remarks on breast cancer awareness month. I welcome the opportunity for all the Deputies in the House to join with many other colleagues to discuss this very important issue. Breast cancer remains one of the most common causes of invasive cancer in women in Ireland, after lung cancer, and is the second most common cause of cancer deaths among women.

It is estimated that approximately a quarter of breast cancers may be preventable through modifiable risk and environmental factors. The first line of defence against most disease, including cancer, is prevention through a healthy lifestyle. Breast cancer awareness is an important tool in the early detection of cancer. The focus that breast cancer awareness places on this is very welcome. Approximately 3,500 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and the National Cancer Registry predicts that it will rise to 4,650 by 2045. One woman in seven in Ireland will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. For each of these women, her diagnosis brings with it a worrying and uncertain time for her and her family.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, again, for the earlier update, including that the national screening service and the HSE have an extensive media campaign planned to highlight key details about screening during Covid-19, breast cancer prevention and symptom awareness.

Breast screening is one of the key strategic tools we have and breast cancer was the first of the cancer services to be centralised by the national cancer control programme when it was established. Breast screening provides an opportunity to detect breast cancer at an early stage and thereby diagnosing mortality and stage of disease at diagnosis. Screening targets those people most at risk of disease based on best scientific evidence and international expertise. BreastCheck invites well people for screening, which is a non-urgent service. Each year, approximately one third of all cancers diagnosed in Ireland are detected through BreastCheck.

I recall when I was a member of the regional health authority that there was a concern in BreastCheck that people who were being invited were not showing up to their screening. I use this opportunity today to say to women that if they are being invited, they should please use that invitation because it is important.

BreastCheck, along with the other cancer screening programmes, was temporarily paused last year due to the impact of the pandemic. The capacity of BreastCheck was also impacted by the cyberattack on the HSE. The programme has done a significant amount of work to support the safe resumption of breast screening and the focus of resumption includes the management of capacity across the whole of the screening pathways, which includes a follow-up assessment and treatments.

Routine screening appointments are now returning to normal with approximately 59,000 women being screened between January and July this year. The programme exceeded the target of 49,000 women and more than 10,000 participants were screened in August alone, which is very welcome. However, as Professor Flanagan, BreastCheck’s lead clinician, told the Oireachtas Committee on Health, interruptions caused to the screening programme by Covid-19 may result in some cancers going undetected. I reiterate it is critical that women take up their appointments.

I welcome the expansion of the screening that is included in the programme for Government that will see all women aged 50 to 69 years of age invited for routine screening. This and other commitments in the programme for Government to improve health services for women and the general population are very welcome.

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