Health Minister announces extension to NI breast cancer screening programme

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey today announced that women up to the age of 70 will be invited for breast screening.

Up until now women aged between 50 and 64 have been routinely invited to attend screening, every three years.

Currently approximately 150,000 women are invited for screening. It is anticipated the extension to the programme will enable a further 45,000 women to be invited for breast screening across Northern Ireland.

Speaking at the launch in the newly refurbished breast screening unit at Linenhall Street in Belfast, the Minister said: “Each year around 1,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in Northern Ireland and approximately 300 women will die. The Northern Ireland Breast Screening Programme detects annually approximately 300 women with this disease.

“The extension of the screening age up to 70 will save lives, and I would encourage everyone invited for an appointment to attend. It could be the difference between life and death.

“The earlier that breast cancer can be identified, the better chance of a successful treatment and increased survival. There is a 97% survival rate at five years for those women who have been detected to have breast cancer under the screening programme.”

Mr McGimpsey, who also had a guided tour of the refurbished breast screening unit, which includes an additional x-ray and ultrasound room, added: “These changes to the unit will provide the additional capacity needed to extend screening to the age of 70, which can only help in reducing the risk of women dying from breast cancer.”

Notes to Editors

• The breast screening programme was first introduced in Northern Ireland in 1989, making this year its 20th anniversary.
• Women between the age of 50 and 64 have been routinely invited to attend screening every three years.
• The NI Breast Screening Programme has been extended to include women up to the age of 70. This will give women two further screening mammograms within the NI Breast Programme.
• Women over the upper age limit for screening will continue to be encouraged to self refer after the age of 70.
• The Breast Screening Unit in Linenhall Street has undergone a refurbishment as it required considerable updating from when the unit was originally opened in 1989. A new separate entrance has been constructed, and there are now three X-ray rooms instead of two, and two ultrasound rooms in place of one. These changes to the unit will provide the additional capacity needed to extend screening to include women up to the age of 70.
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