Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for taking this important matter. The European Commission recently published a new study on breast cancer screening across the European Union. One of its recommendations was to extend breast cancer screening to include women from the ages of 45 to 74. As the Minister of State knows, in Ireland, the screening process begins at 50 and ends at 69. The European Union is saying that for better outcomes for women, the screening process age should be lowered to 45 and end at 74. The figures and evidence are quite compelling in respect of breast cancer in Irish women.

One in nine million women will develop breast cancer over their lifetime. Recovery rates from the disease are high, which is important. The startling statistic, however, is that 23% of all women who are detected are under the age of 50. Between the ages of 20 and 50, the figure is 23%. Some 36% of the women who are diagnosed are over 70. Some 56% of women then are not in that screening process. The evidence is, therefore, quite compelling in respect of the lowering of the screening age for women.

For example, in some European countries the age of screening starts at 45. Sweden, which is a good example, starts at 40. That country has found that when it started the process of screening at 40, there were 26% fewer deaths, which is a good result. The national screening advisory committee, NSAC, has stated that it will prioritise the proposal by the Commission. Will the Government take on the Commission’s report? Will it review the current screening process and, as women will ask for, will it lower the age of screening as per the recommendations of the Commission?

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