Madam, – I was alarmed at the article (Kerry Breast Check uptake improves, HEALTHplus, August 11th) trumpeting the improved number of women now participating in breast screening in Co Kerry. This improvement apparently followed an aggressive advertising campaign encouraging women to participate after a poor initial response.
It is worrying to say the least that BreastCheck does not mention in its information leaflet the potential harms that are also associated with breast screening. These are documented explicitly in the Cochrane review of breast cancer (www.cochrane.dk) and in the British Medical Journal, “Overdiagnosis in publicly organised mammography screening programmes: systematic review of incidence trends”, July 9th, 2009.
Why are women in Ireland not informed that there is now a significant scientific/medical debate concerning overdiagnosis (one in three women), false positive diagnoses and the unnecessary treatment of subclinical lesions that would never have troubled some women.
In order for women to make an informed intelligent choice they should be given correct information detailing the risks and benefits so that they are fully aware of what they are embarking on.
Health planning in this country has gone seriously wrong, with the HSE cynically dismantling symptomatic breast units in the likes of Tralee and Sligo while heralding the arrival of breast screening which may do more harm than good.
In the meantime the NHS in Britain has recently scrapped its breast-screening information leaflet in response to criticisms that it failed to mention the major harm of screening – overdiagnosis! – Yours, etc,