62,000 signatures in BreastCheck protest
Earlier, women from the Munster and Connacht regions held a demonstration outside Leinster House, Dublin, calling for the BreastCheck service to be extended to their areas.
The Labour Party, which has run a national campaign on the issue, presented the signatures to Health Minister Mary Harney yesterday.
Labour TDs recently led a Dáil debate on breast screening during private members’ motion time.
Limerick TD and front-bench member Jan O’Sullivan said BreastCheck services have been promised for the Munster region four times since 2002.
“Government commitments were made in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005,” she said.
“Early detection and treatment are key to saving lives. Why are the lives of women in Munster and Connacht less valuable than women in the east coast area or in Belfast where breast screening is available?” said Ms O’Sullivan.
Cork North Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said there is an unacceptable two-year waiting list for mammograms in Munster.
The party said that death rates from breast cancer dropped by 20% in the North since the introduction of screening there.
It has called on people to write to Ms Harney and call for the extension of BreastCheck nationwide.
The Government has committed to making the service nationwide by the end of 2007.
Ms O’Sullivan said: “It could come sooner. The test centres are in place in Galway and Cork. They just need to recruit the staff.”
BreastCheck representatives told an Oireachtas Committee in February 2003 that if the service was available, breast cancer could be detected in up to 450 women each year in Munster and Connacht.
