Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Women aged under 50 are being neglected in breast cancer screening. I reject the reasons given by the National Cancer Screening Service for not providing breast screening for women under 50. The service states that pre-menopausal women are unsuitable for routine screening because they would be exposed to excessive radiation as they would need to be screened annually. This is because the breast tissue of women who have not yet reached menopause is usually dense and therefore more difficult to detect a cancer with a mammogram.

Dr. Juliet McAleese who represents the cancer support group, Survive and Thrive, contradicts this assertion. I commend her and her group on highlighting the issue. She states that with digital screening, very low levels of radiation are emitted and such digital screening makes it much easier to view cancer, even in women aged under 50. The real issue, which is being avoided, is money. According to Dr. McAleese, many other countries provide screening for this age group. The American Cancer Society still advises annual mammograms for women starting at age 40. British Colombia in Canada, on which we have based our breast cancer services, also advocates annual breast screening, as does New Zealand and many other European countries.

The most worrying message being delivered by the National Cancer Screening Service is that women under 50 are not at risk of breast cancer, which is most definitely not the case. I know this to be true because many of my friends, acquaintances and constituents have been diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50, some with better outcomes than others.

Breast cancer is the biggest single killer in Ireland. Better access to ultrasound and mammography must be facilitated for women under 50. I am disgusted and appalled that BreastCheck nationally has recently decided against lowering the age for mammogram from 50 to 47. Finding cancer as early as possible gives a better chance of survival in all age groups. However, in Ireland the message given to women by the Government, the National Cancer Screening Service and BreastCheck is that breast cancer screening is only for women over 50. Recent figures indicate that 600 women aged under 50 were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. Some 455 of these women were in their 40s, which is a staggering figure.

Sadly when a woman first attends her general practitioner with a pain or a lump in her breast, the cancer can often have spread. One in five are presenting with secondary cancers at their first visit to a GP. There is no service for women who are not symptomatic but are just genuinely worried about the risk of cancer. To be screened, a woman must be either over 50, have detected a lump or be in pain. Why can BreastCheck not offer one hour per day for a walk-in service where women who are worried can make an appointment without a referral from a GP? It is foolhardy not to offer a service to women under 50. Women in their 40s are at their prime in their careers, in the middle of rearing and nurturing their little children or caring for ageing parents. We must surely acknowledge that they have a right to access screening, thereby increasing their chances of survival. It is a frightening indictment of the Government that lack of funding could be a reason that service is not extended to women under 50.