Varadkar delivers on BreastCheck pledge

Health Minister, Leo Varadkar has delivered on a government promise made three years ago to extend BreastCheck screening to women aged 65 to 69 next year.

The move, demanded by the Irish Cancer Society, could save 87 lives a year, as women in the older age group have the second-highest incidence of breast cancer — and the second-highest chance of dying from it.

Currently, BreastCheck screens women aged 50 to 64 every two years.

Extending the screening to older women was first promised in the Programme for Government in 2011.

With coverage now extending to include women from 50 to 69, the total eligible population for BreastCheck will be approximately 540,000 women.

BreastCheck said it would make a substantial increase in its staffing levels to accommodate the additional screening safely and effectively.

It pointed out that next year would primarily be a pre-implementation phase — with screening on the extended cohort beginning towards the end of the year.

BreastCheck began screening in February 2000, and latest figures show that the programme had provided 1.2m mammograms to more than 450,500 women and detected more than 7,400 cancers.

The ICS said the Government had made the right decision, with one in 10 of all breast cancers occurring in the 65 to 69 age group.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer said quality screening mammography carried out every two years in women who are 50-69 years of age should reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by about 35%.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar said he hoped to reach an agreement with the Irish Medical Organisation on the provision of free GP care for all children under the age of six, so that it could be up and running early next year.