Breast cancer screening call

21 Apr 2015 12:43 PM

Women encouraged to get checked early.

Health Secretary Shona Robison today encouraged women across Scotland to take up their invitation to be screened for breast cancer.

The call comes as new figures published today show that over half of invasive breast cancers detected in 2013/14 would have been unlikely to have been found by a physical examination alone.

In the period 2011-2014, 72.9 per cent of eligible women attended a breast screening appointment, with cancer detected in 6.8 of every 1000 women screened.

The Scottish Breast Screening Programme invites all women aged between 50 and 70 to a breast screening appointment approximately every three years.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “The earlier cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat. All the evidence shows that more lives can be saved through early detection and breast screening can pick up cancers that women would be unlikely to find themselves.

“The figures published today show that the overall uptake of breast screening remains high, with nearly three quarters of Scottish women participating in the programme.

“However I would like to see even more eligible women take up their invitation to screening, and so I’d encourage every woman aged 50 to 70 to find out more about the Scottish Breast Screening Programme.

“The Scottish Government’s £30 million Detect Cancer Early Programme has had significant success is raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast, bowel and lung cancer.

“Following our ground-breaking breast cancer advertising campaign, featuring Elaine C Smith, there was a 50 per cent increase in the number of women consulting their GP in the first three months of the campaign.

“Work is now underway to investigate what more can be done to encourage women to take up their invitation to participate in breast screening.”

In 2013/14, over 1,450 cases of breast cancer were detected through the Scottish Breast Screening Programme.

In 13 out of 14 health board areas over 70 per cent of women attended a breast screening appointment – meeting the minimum attendance standard set by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Since full national coverage was attained in 1991 there have been over three million screening episodes and in excess of 24,000 breast cancers diagnosed.

Notes To Editors

The Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics 2013/14 publication is available on the ISD Scotland website: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp#1384