Breast cancer screening rate hits record low

BREAST screening rates for women aged

0 to 70 are the lowest since records began, official figures show.

Only 70. per cent of women in England in that age group went to routine screening in 2017/18, down from 71.1 per cent the previous year.

It means around 7 0,000 women who were invited did not attend their appointments, according to NHS Digital statistics.

Experts blame it on busy lives, worries that mammograms are painful and concerns that screening can do more harm than good. Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of the charity Breast Cancer Now, said: ‘If this decline continues, next year could see screening in England fall below its minimum attendance target of 70 per cent for the first time, and we must act now at national and regional levels to reverse this trend.

‘With breast cancer incidence continuing to rise, it’s really concerning that over 7 0,000 women are missing out on the benefits of screening in England. Screening is vital in ensuring that breast cancer is detected at earlier, more treatable stages.’

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer, with ,000 women diagnosed each year, and 11, 00 dying from it.

Under the NHS Breast Screening Programme, women usually receive their first routine invitation between 0 and 3 and are asked back every three years until their 71st birthday.

But the latest statistics show that of the number of women aged 0 to 70 invited for screening, the proportion who attended is at the lowest level since records for that age group began in 2003.

Worryingly, the uptake of women attending first invitations fell from 60.3 per cent last year to 60 per cent. Women who do not attend their first appointment are less likely to attend subsequent ones.

While national uptake remains just above the NHS standard of 70 per cent, the North-West (69.8 per cent) and London (63.3 per cent) both fell below.