At risk women ‘chuffed’ with breast screen extension

Nelson-Marlborough is the first region to roll out free breast screening to women between the ages of 70 and 74 and three locals say it is about time.

The Health Minister, Dr Shane Reti, made the announcement in Nelson recently that screening would be extended in Nelson-Marlborough, ahead of a national roll out late next year.

Carol Barker has a family history of breast cancer and had free mammograms every year until the cutoff point at 69. Her mother died of breast cancer after ignoring a lump under her arm until it became so large she could no longer garden.

Two sisters and a cousin have also had breast cancer, so when her free mammograms stopped after she was 69, the only way to get a breast screen was to pay for it herself.

“When you got past the cut-off, it made you feel worthless after that; like you didn’t matter. Yet women our age are still active and still working, so why should we be made to feel worthless?”

Carol, Prue Sweet and Pam Craig all live at Summerset Richmond Ranges and are “chuffed” that screening has been extended to 74, though they would like to see it extended further. They should all get at least one more free mammogram now as it is carried out every two years. After that, they will be out of the screening programme, again.

Pam used to work in a clothing shop and saw women in their 70s and 80s, diagnosed with breast cancer, looking for clothes after a mastectomy. Hence, she knew the importance of breast screening and early detection.

“I was gutted when I found out it was the last one I would get, because I saw so many people coming in with mastectomies in the high 70s or 80s.”

Prue says the screening programme costs money, but early detection saves money as well as lives.

“We’re all chuffed that it is being extended but would like it to go further because we’re all leading active lives.”

The Government’s budget set aside $31.2 million to extend the BreastScreen Aotearoa programme. In his announcement, Dr Reti said breast cancer is the most common cancer in New Zealand, with about 3,400 women diagnosed with the disease each year. Women in the screening programme are 34 per cent less likely to die from breast cancer.

The Breast Cancer Foundation (NZ) says a woman’s risk of breast cancer is higher at 70 than it is at 50, and research shows mammograms are still life saving for women in their 70s. About 350 women aged between 70 and 74 are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in New Zealand.