Campaigners are calling on the Government to make breast density reports mandatory
Members of the Lobular Ireland breast cancer group gathered outside Leinster House this morning to call for mandatory breast density reports.
The group has long been campaigning to introduce mandatory breast density reports in Ireland.
Women from across the country gathered outside Leinster House to show support and to call for changes to the current guidelines.
Ireland’s screening programme currently operates under a “one-size-fits-all” approach, which isn’t good enough.
Following the gathering outside Leinster House, Lobular Ireland co-hosted a briefing for TDs and Senators in Leinster House.
Speaking about the briefing, campaigner Martha Lovett Cullen stated:
“Standing in Leinster House today, telling my mum Marian’s story, was incredibly emotional and surreal.
“It’s something I wish more than anything she could have seen. The response we received from TDs and Ministers showed that this issue is finally being heard, and that women’s health can no longer be left in the dark.
Martha added, “We were there because women with dense breasts deserve to know information about their own bodies.
“They deserve better from our healthcare system,” Martha stressed.
In Ireland, women are not told when their mammogram indicates that they have dense breasts.
Women with dense breasts are also not advised that they’re at an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
According to reports, up to 50% of breast cancers are missed on mammograms in dense breasts.
Siobhan Freeney previously told Her.ie: “France automatically will tell a woman and bring her back for an ultrasound if she comes in and they discover she has dense breasts. The Federal Drugs Authority in the States has introduced legislation, which was enacted last September.
“They have a law now which says that all women have to be told whether they have dense tissue or non-dense tissue. They have a right to that information.”
Read more: ‘Why Ireland’s healthcare system needs to start taking breast density seriously’
