Local AM supports breast cancer screening programme

11.47.39am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 21st Feb 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Brecon and Radnorshire, Kirsty Williams, has urged the Assembly Government to ensure adequate resources are available to Breast Test Wales, to help deliver the most effective breast cancer screening programme possible.

The local AM has signed a Statement of Opinion to raise awareness of the importance of the screening programme, and the potential strain on resources in years to come.

Ms Williams said: "One in five eligible women in Powys are not being screened, and that is a cause for concern. Breast cancer screening saves lives - we need to get that message out to as many people as possible, and then make sure the resources are there so women can have the screening they are entitled to. Women between the ages of 50 and 70 should be screened once every three years, but some women will have to wait longer than that and, given the importance of early detection, that is a problem we need to tackle.

"There is also concern that, as those born in the post-war baby boom reach their 50th birthdays, a growing number of women are becoming eligible for screening - by 2025, Breast Test Wales will have to cope with a 17 per cent rise in the number of women eligible. I want the Assembly Government to commit to ensuring that adequate resources will be available to meet this challenge, and help save lives."

Notes:

Breast Test Wales is the body that delivers the NHS breast screening programme in Wales.

Statements of Opinion are a mechanism for Assembly Members to draw attention to issues of concern, or to highlight achievements, by putting their views on a subject on the record and then encouraging other Members to add their name to the Statement. The full text of the Statement reads: "The Assembly recognises the success of the Breast Test Wales Screening Programme in aiming to screen women from 50 to 70 once every three years but recognises take up of appointments is low in some areas and that some women have to wait longer; notes the expected 17% rise in women eligible for the Screening Programme between 2005 and 2025; and urges the Welsh Assembly Government to back Breakthrough Breast Cancer's Screening Saves Lives campaign to improve the effectiveness of the screening programme, and ensure Breast Test Wales is adequately resourced to meet the demographic challenge it faces."

Figures from Health Statistics Wales, produced for the National Assembly for Wales and updated in July 2006, show that 79.7% of eligible women in Powys were screened for breast cancer in 2004-05.