Leaflet on breast cancer to be sent to homes

A LEAFLET highlighting facts about breast cancer will be delivered to more than three-quarters of a million households across the country next week.

Breast cancer advocacy group Europa Donna Ireland received funding of €105,000 from the National Lottery to print 790,000 leaflets which will be delivered to households by An Post to coincide with Breast Action Week.

The illustrated leaflet, entitled nine things you should know about breast cancer, was drafted following consultation with the Disability Equality Specialist Support Agency (Dessa) and the National Women’s Council.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin yesterday, Christine Murphy-Whyte, chairwoman of Europa Donna Ireland, said she hoped the leaflet would inform people of the most basic facts about breast cancer.

“Information on breast cancer can be very confusing and daunting for many women. However, with six people being diagnosed every day in Ireland, every woman – young and old – needs to be equipped with the most important basic facts about this disease.”

Ms Murphy said one of the campaign’s central messages is to encourage women to regularly check for the disease.

“The sooner it is discovered the better your chances of having shorter, easier treatment. It can mean the difference between a lumpectomy and a mastectomy,” she said.

Donna Ireland’s chairwoman also called for the extension of the BreastCheck programme to women of 65 and over. The current programme is currently only available to women between the ages of 50 and 64.

“We think it is a misleading message. If the national programme is actually stopping at 64, it’s sending out a message that your risk is reduced but it actually increases.”

Minister for Health Mary Harney, who launched the leaflet, said more than 30 per cent of people don’t attend appointments with BreastCheck and acknowledged that more had to be done to get people to undergo screening.

“We have to extend the age in BreastCheck and a number of other areas in the cancer area.”

“Unfortunately we’ve come to some of these programmes much later than other European countries so we’ve been involved in a huge catch-up in a relatively short space of time.

“I hope that we complete that catch-up as quickly as possible notwithstanding the financial constraints under which we operate at the moment.”

More information is available from www.europadonnaireland.ie