Free breast checks ‘nationwide by 2005’

IT will be late 2005 before all women aged between 50 and 64 will be able avail of free screening for breast cancer, it was revealed yesterday.

BreastCheck, the national screening programme, was introduced in early 2000 in the Eastern, North-Eastern and Midland regions, with a promise to extend it to cover the State.

Last year 76% of women contacted by BreastCheck took up their invitation to have a free chest X-ray the European standard is 70%. Of the 38,242 women who attended BreastCheck for screening in 2002, 306 were found to have breast cancer.