Nora Owen
Ceist:305 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health and Children the proposals he has to provide services to women to minimise the risk of contracting cancer. [11616/01]
Written Answers - Cancer Screening Programme.
The health promotion unit of my Department supports an extensive range of initiatives, a number of which have an impact on the levels of knowledge and awareness of the risk factors associated with many cancers. These include national mass media campaigns on anti-smoking, alcohol awareness and healthy eating. The unit also provides funding to the Irish Cancer Society in support of cancer prevention initiatives, including the yearly Europe Against Cancer campaign.
Phase 1 of the national cervical screening programme commenced in the Mid-Western Health Board in October 2000. Under the programme, in the region of 67,000 women aged 25 to 60 years will be screened, free of charge, at minimum intervals of five years. The question of extending the programme to the rest of the country is currently under consideration by my Department in conjunction with the chief executive officers of the health boards and the expert advisory group on cervical screening.
BreastCheck, the national breast screening programme, commenced in February 2000. Phase I of the programme covers the Eastern Regional Health Authority area, and the North-Eastern and Midland Health Board areas. Screening is being offered free of charge to all women in the target age group 50 to 64 years of age.
Decisions regarding subsequent phases of the programme will be guided by the experience gained from putting phase I of the programme in place. phase II will involve the extension of the programme to the rest of the country. The steering committee has recommended that phase II of the programme should follow phase I as soon as is practicable. The National Breast Screening Board is currently examining the proposal for the roll out of the programme to the rest of the country.
The report on the development of services for symptomatic breast disease recommends the development of centres of excellence for the specialist treatment of breast disease. The report refers to the strong evidence which exists that women with breast cancer are at a lower risk of relapse and have a better opportunity of long-term survival if they are treated in a multidisciplinary setting.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I allocated £4.35 million from national cancer strategy funding in the current year for the treatment of symptomatic breast disease, including £4.115 million to enable the development of centres of excellence to commence in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area, Portlaoise General Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Waterford Regional Hospital, University College Hospital Galway and the Southern Health Board area. The development of centres of excellence for the treatment of breast disease will continue over a period of a number of years and will form part of the next phase of implementation of the national cancer strategy.
I am committed to providing the best, safest and most effective treatment for women and, in so doing, provide the best opportunity for long-term survival to those who are found to have cancer.