Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Byrne for raising this issue. We all have family members or friends who have been touched by this illness. I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to address the House on the national breast screening programme, BreastCheck. Population based screening programmes are an important element of early detection of cancer. BreastCheck provides free mammograms to eligible women every two years. This service is provided free of charge by the Health Service Executive, HSE, through its national screening services which also operate the CervicalCheck and BowelScreen screening programmes.

The EU guidelines on effective screening for breast cancer recommend that screening should be offered to women aged between 50 and 69 employing two-yearly mammography. BreastCheck has been available nationwide to women aged 50 to 64 for several years. The roll out of this service to women aged 65 to 69 began in late 2015. This age extension brings the screening programme fully in line with international best practice. The additional population who will be eligible for this programme is approximately 100,000 and, when fully implemented in 2021, a total of 540,000 women will be included in the BreastCheck programme. BreastCheck continually reviews new and emerging evidence on the benefits of screening, including the optimum age range for screening. International evidence does not currently support the introduction of population based breast screening below the age of 50. The risk of developing breast cancer increases with age and there is a higher prevalence of breast cancer in women aged 50 and over.

Screening aims to detect cancer before symptoms appear. Regular screening can help to detect cancer at an early stage when it is easier to treat and there is a higher chance of a good recovery. I welcome the current BreastCheck advertising campaign which aims to boost uptake rates and urges all women to take the time to do something very important for themselves by availing of the invitation to have a mammogram.

Breast screening is one element of our comprehensive cancer control programme. As part of its work across the full range of cancers, the HSE’s national cancer control programme provides symptomatic breast clinics in each of the eight cancer centres, with a satellite clinic of the Galway service in Letterkenny. Breast cancer survival in Ireland has improved significantly in recent years due to a combined approach of screening, symptomatic detection and improved treatment. Five-year survival for breast cancer is now estimated at 82% for people diagnosed between 2008 and 2012. This is a most encouraging figure and it shows a significant improvement from 75.1% for people diagnosed between 1994 and 1999.

In conclusion, BreastCheck is aimed at the age groups that will benefit most from a population based breast screening programme. While the international evidence in this area is continually under review, it is not envisaged at this time that the age range will be reduced below the age of 50. I take this opportunity to encourage all eligible women to avail of the free breast screening mammogram when it is offered to them. I assure the House that comprehensive breast services are also available to women in the designated cancer centres. Those of any age who have concerns about breast cancer should seek the advice of their general practitioner, GP, who will, if appropriate, refer them to the symptomatic breast services.