Screening Saves Lives
Early detetection of breast cancer saves lives.
Breast screening is vital to this early diagnosis, this is because a mammogram – an x-ray of the breast – can reveal changes too small to be noticed by you or your GP.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) saves an estimated 1,400 lives each year in England alone.
Breakthrough’s Screening Saves Lives campaign, launched in May 2006, is aiming for the earliest possible detection of breast cancer by pressing for continued improvements to breast screening services across the UK.
And the message is getting home: the campaign achieved 84% awareness among MPs in early 2007. At the Labour Party Conference that same year, Gordon Brown announced that by 2012 women aged 47 – 73 would receive automatic invites to the NHBSP – a pledge confirmed in the 2007 Cancer Reform Strategy. This extends by three years both the existing upper and lower age limits to the programme.
The current focus of the Screening Saves Lives campaign is on digital mammography, breast screening for women with a family history and increasing the take-up of screening appointments.
Get involved
Take action by becoming a member of Breakthrough CAN and support our national campaigns.
For more information about Breakthrough’s Screening Saves Lives campaign contact Lizzie Cook, Senior Local Engagement Officer at lizziec@breakthrough.org.uk or call 020 7025 0277.
