Claire Rowney, CEO of Breast Cancer Now, said:
“It’s shocking that where you live in the UK means you may have a greater risk of dying from cancer.
“Guaranteeing all breast cancer patients an equal opportunity to be diagnosed early is crucial to saving more lives from the disease. And so it’s worrying that while breast screening detects breast cancer early, when survival rates are almost 100%, uptake is lower among people living in more deprived areas.
"In 2024, 74.1% of eligible women were up to date with their breast screening in the least deprived areas of England, compared to just 63.3% of women in the most deprived areas.[1] It’s clear that more must be done to make breast screening more accessible to everyone who is eligible.
“While we know there’s no easy or quick fix to reverse years of poor uptake of breast screening in England, we welcome NHS England’s commitment this week to addressing the alarming trend with a national awareness campaign. And we also stand ready to work with the government and NHS to make sure the upcoming national cancer plan delivers real, lasting change for people with breast cancer.
“We encourage all women to regularly check their breasts, and get any new or unusual changes checked by a GP, along with attending NHS breast screening when invited, and breast checking in between screening appointments.”
ENDS
- Breast Cancer Screening coverage, 2024 - https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework/data#page/7/gid/1000042/pat/15/par/E92000001/ati/502/are/E09000002/iid/22001/age/225/sex/2/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/car-do-0_ine-yo-1:2024:-1:-1_ine-pt-0_ine-ct-160