DEIRDRE O'CONNELL,
Madam, - Europa Donna Ireland, the Irish Breast Cancer Campaign, welcomes the clear description by Dr Muiris Houston of how a specialist multidisciplinary breast unit works (Your Health series, October 28th).
It is indeed deplorable that every woman in the country does not have access to such a centre of excellence, given the irrefutable scientific evidence that this would improve mortality rates by 20 per cent and that this was quite plainly stated in the report Development of Services for Symptomatic Breast Disease, published in March 2000.
Europa Donna Ireland has been campaigning for the full implementation of this report since its publication and we hope that the National Cancer Strategy 2003-2010 will include a firm commitment to this within a reasonable time-scale, as well as a timetable for the BreastCheck screening programme. It is a matter of scientific fact that mortality rates in breast cancer can be significantly decreased by access to screening and to multidisciplinary clinics.
We strongly believe that patient advocates should be included on all task forces, working groups and planning boards so that the voice of the end-users of the existing services can be brought to the table. This is already the case in the United States and is increasingly so throughout Europe.
We are also very concerned about the lack of funding for psychological support services for cancer patients and their families. At present, almost all such support services are being provided by voluntary organisations.
Europa Donna Ireland is a national organisation, with over 300 members from all over Ireland, all of whom support the campaign for integrated treatments for women diagnosed with breast cancer, for better age-appropriate screening services for all women in the country, for psychological support services, better availability of radiotherapy services and more access to clinical trials. We welcome new members to join us in the fight for better services for all aspects of the treatment of the disease. We can be contacted at the address below or at 01-4960198. - Yours, etc.,
DEIRDRE O'CONNELL, Chairperson, Europa Donna Ireland, PO Box 6602, Dublin 8.