Seamus Healy
Ceist:282 Mr. Healy asked the Minister for Health and Children when he intends to provide a breast screening service for the South-Eastern Health Board area. [11073/02]
Written Answers. - Cancer Screening Programme.
Michael Ring
Ceist:331 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children when the national cancer screening programme, BreastCheck, will be extended nationwide to the remaining health board areas considering that it has operated in the Eastern Health Board area for the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11377/02]
John Perry
Ceist:365 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason he has not given an immediate commitment to provide the national breast cancer screening service to the women of counties Sligo and Leitrim and in the north-west; the steps which will be put in place to redress this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11679/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 282, 331 and 365 together.
As the Deputies are aware, BreastCheck, the national breast screening programme, commenced in March 2000 with phase one of the programme covering the Eastern Regional Health Authority, Midland Health Board and 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 more than 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 the health boards located outside the phase one area are represented on the board of BreastCheck by their respective chief executive officers.
My Department has been in ongoing consultation with BreastCheck concerning expansion of the programme and will continue to support BreastCheck in moving to nationwide coverage as soon as possible.