Government under fire over BreastCheck delay
Marie Mooney from Cork, who had a breast removed two-and-a-half years ago, said: “We’re being discriminated against down here.”
She was speaking ahead of the launch in Cork of a campaign to speed up the rollout of the service.
The Government approved the rollout of BreastCheck to the south and west last week, two years after former Health Minister Micheál Martin announced the extension of the programme.
But BreastCheck Now, a Cork-based non-political lobby group which is liaising with similar groups in Kerry and Tipperary, criticised the delay.
Ms Mooney will speak at a BreastCheck Now rally in Cork tonight.
Her sister, who lives in Dublin, was invited for screening under the BreastCheck service.
Ms Mooney decided to be screened at about the same time but had to go privately. A lump was discovered and within two weeks, she had a mastectomy.
“Looking back on it, if I had been living in Dublin I would have been invited to have the check, and my breast could have been saved,” she said.
“I am one of the lucky ones. I was able to afford to go privately. But there are women out there who can’t afford it.”
While she praised the doctors and nurses for the care she received, she criticised the 18-month waiting list.
“People are losing breasts unnecessarily, and some women are losing their lives. This is totally unacceptable.
“I would ask people to come out and support this campaign.”
BreastCheck Now also plans a petition-gathering exercise on May 21 in Cork, Kerry and Tipperary to increase political pressure.
“This will be a concerted effort to keep the pressure on,” said BreastCheck Now member Noreen O’Donnell.
Figures from the National Cancer Registry show 153 women died of breast cancer in the southern region in 2002 and another 106 in the west, accounting for 43% of the 604 deaths nationally. It is estimated that more than 65 lives will be saved each year and up to 1,000 women will live longer when BreastCheck is finally rolled out.
Professor of surgery at University College Hospital Galway, Prof Michael Kerin, said last week: “we’d expect to diagnose 350-400 cases of breast cancer per year with screening and because of that, we could reduce the mortality rate by up to 25%. So every year lost is significant in terms of lives lost.”
Cork University Hospital cancer specialist Dr Séamus O’Reilly said there was a “significant medical urgency” to roll out BreastCheck.
Up to 200,000 women have been screened along the eastern seaboard, the north-east and the midlands since screening commenced in February 2000.
Tonight’s BreastCheck Now rally takes place in the Imperial Hotel, Cork, at 8pm. All are welcome.
Irish Cancer Society Action Breast Cancer free helpline: 1800 30 90 40.
