Breast cancer deaths fall

BREAST cancer-related deaths have decreased across the nation since BreastScreen Australia began in 1991.

That year, the mortality rate in women aged 50-74 was 74 per 100,000, dropping to 41 per 100,000 in 2019, a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed.

About 1.9 million screenings were done through BreastScreen Australia in 2018–19, amounting to 55 per cent of women in the targeted age group.

In 2019, 60 per cent of breast cancers detected in women aged 50-74 through the service were small.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Australian women.

BreastScreen Australia is the national breast cancer screening program, aiming to reduce illness and death.