INCREASE BREAST SCREENING ACROSS THE EU

10.52.00am GMT Mon 1st Mar 2010

North East Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall is calling on EU member states to follow the British lead and introduce nationwide breast screening programmes to step up the fight against breast cancer across Europe.

In the EU breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women aged 35 to 59. Over 330,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.

Fiona, a member of the MEPs Against Cancer Group, said:

"A great number of European countries do not have regular programmes for breast cancer screening, yet research conducted in the EU shows that mammographic screening can reduce deaths from breast cancer by up to 35% in women aged between 50 and 69.

"It should be an absolute priority to introduce nationwide screening programmes for women to detect cancer before it becomes invasive."

In the North East, over 95,000 women were screened for breast cancer last year. Of the 731 cases of cancer diagnosed, 589 were invasive. Worryingly, reports estimate that the number of cases of breast cancer in the region will increase by up to 40% by 2020.

Fiona said:

"Early diagnosis is the best chance for women to beat breast cancer. We need to improve screening programmes across the EU and encourage women to make use of screening where it is available, not least here in the North East."

Fiona also supports Cancer Research UK's Commit to Beat Cancer campaign, which would encourage more women to be checked for early signs and allow patients outside the target age groups access to screening on request. The current upper age group is 70 years.