breastscreen program

Breast intentions

Proposed changes to breast cancer screening are attracting emotional responses in the media. Kate Woods speaks to the experts to set the record straight. ALMOST 20 years ago, when state and federal health ministers joined together to fund a national mammography screening program, the age-standardised death rate from breast cancer was 30.6 deaths per 100,000 women. 1 For women aged 50-69 years, the rate was even higher: almost 67 deaths per 100,000 women. 1 At the time, estimates were that if the new program – which became known as BreastScreen Australia – was ...