THE NUMBER of women in Kerry participating in the National Breast Screening Programme has improved significantly after an initial period where women in the county were failing to keep appointments for breast cancer checks, The Irish Timeshas learned.
According to BreastCheck head of communications, Sheila Caulfield, the programme has had a very positive response to a campaign encouraging women in the 50-64 age bracket in Kerry to avail of the screening programme after a very slow initial response.
“Unfortunately there was a lot of confusion and misinformation being put out by people concerned about the transfer of symptomatic breast cancer services from Kerry General Hospital to Cork which is entirely separate from the BreastCheck programme,” she said.
“That led to a disappointing response initially from women in Kerry who were being offered BreastCheck appointments but since our campaign we have had a very positive uptake and are now on course to reach our minimum target of 70 per cent uptake,” she said.
BreastCheck began its screening programme at a mobile unit located in the grounds of Kerry General Hospital in Tralee last April and plans to provide free mammograms for some 13,000 women in Kerry during the course of a 12-month roll-out of the service.
Following the poor initial response, BreastCheck met Kerry public representatives including Oireachtas members and councillors to explain that the programme is separate to the National Cancer Strategy and ask them to encourage women to avail of the service.
Advertisements were placed in local newspapers in which the public representatives helped clarify the situation, pointed out that more than 20,000 people in Kerry had signed a petition looking for BreastCheck and urged women in the county to avail of the cancer screening service.
Ms Caulfield explained that the screening programme was being provided on an electoral area basis in the county with BreastCheck writing to all registered women in the 50-64 age cohort in each electoral area to invite them for the free mammogram.
“Women from Tralee and surrounding areas are currently being invited for their free BreastCheck mammogram while women registered with the programme from Brandon, Castlegregory, Dingle, Inch and Stradbally areas are currently receiving letters,” she said.
“While the vast majority of women who attend BreastCheck screening are found to be perfectly healthy, to detect the maximum number of breast cancers, BreastCheck must receive a high attendance rate to screening by women.
“Anything that affects attendance rates to screening, can affect the maximum detection of breast cancers,” said Ms Caulfield, adding that early detection is vital to saving lives and the programme aims to detect the maximum number of cancers at the earliest possible stage.
A successful screening programme in Ireland could reduce mortality from breast cancers by 20-30 per cent, said Ms Caulfield.
- BreastCheck encourages all eligible women (aged 50 to 64) to make sure their name is on the register by calling Freephone 1800 45 45 55 or visiting www.breastcheck.ie