Cancer screening delay in Northwest slammed
Sligo Sinn Féin Councillor Sean MacManus has expressed his concern over the absence of comprehensive breast cancer screening in the region. He says that Health Minister Micheál Martin's stalling on plans to extend the `BreastCheck' program to the Northwest was ``no less than a matter of life or death'' for women in Sligo and Leitrim.
``Breast cancer is an issue that affects everyone: both women and their loved ones,'' he said. ``We know that early detection is of critical importance. Not only can early detection avert the need for radical surgery, it can also save lives.''
The National Breast Screening Programme, known as BreastCheck, extends free breast screening to all women aged 50-64, repeated every two years. The programme aims to reduce breast cancer-related deaths by 20% within a decade.
Although ``BreastCheck'' began in 1999, it remains limited to the Eastern, Northeastern, and Midlands regions.
``I was pleased when the BreastCheck program was initially announced,'' said MacManus ``However, I was shocked to recently learn that there is currently no timetable or plan to extend this service to the Northwest: only a vague promise that we will get this service eventually.''
The Sligo councillor is now concerned that the BreastCheck programme might not arrive in the Northwest until as late as 2006. MacManus points out that breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the Northwest, that Leitrim has the highest rate of breast cancer in Ireland, and that breast cancer death rates in Sligo and Leitrim are higher than the national average. These statistics are contained in the most recent data available from the North Western Health Board. ``Comprehensive breast cancer screening services are of absolutely critical importance. Eventually is not good enough. We need this service extended to the Northwest now,'' he says.
MacManus is calling on the minister to publicly commit to an early target date to have BreastCheck up and running in the region.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)