Vol. 551 No. 4
130 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children when he proposes to extend the BreastCheck programme nationwide; the estimated cost of this extension; the discussions he has had with health boards regarding the nationwide expansion of the programme; the health boards he has had discussions with; and the progress made in this regard. [10666/02]
As the Deputy is aware, BreastCheck, the national breast screening programme, commenced in March 2000 with phase one of the programme covering the Eastern Regional Health Authority, the Midland Health Board and the North-Eastern Health Board. Screening is being offered free of charge to all women in those areas in the target age group 50 to 64 years of age. It is expected that phase one of the programme will be completed by December 2002. To date, more than 50,000 women have been called for screening and over 34,000 women have been screened. This represents an uptake of 70%.
It is essential that the programme is driven by international quality assurance and best practice and the experience gained in phase one will facilitate the process of planning and organising the roll-out of the programme nationwide. All of the health boards located outside the phase one area are represented on the board of BreastCheck by their respective chief executive officers.
