Thousands more breast cancers could be detected earlier in England next year thanks to a major new NHS initiative aimed at encouraging more women to attend potentially life-saving breast screening appointments.
The NHS in England has today unveiled its first-ever awareness campaign to highlight the benefits of regular mammograms. This campaign, supported by leading charity Breast Cancer Now, aims to address the concerning statistic that over four in ten women (46.3%) invited for their first screening do not attend.
The campaign features a new advert across TV, radio, and online platforms, emphasising that early detection through screening can significantly improve treatment outcomes. The advert also aims to provide reassurance and relief to millions of women who receive the all-clear.
New NHS estimates suggest that if screening attendance could be improved to 80% of those eligible next year (2025/26), nearly a million more women (around 925,000) could be screened compared to 2022/23. This increase in attendance could lead to the early detection of over 7,500 additional breast cancers, making them more treatable.
The landmark campaign features celebrities such as Newsnight anchor Victoria Derbyshire, broadcaster Julia Bradbury, and Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas. These public figures have penned ‘unofficial’ invitation letters sharing their personal experiences with screening to reassure and encourage women to attend. They are joined by cancer survivors, NHS staff, and TV doctors in a series of moving films launched today.
In an open letter to women that have been invited for screening, Victoria Derbyshire said:
“I’ve had breast screening multiple times. For me it was painless and I was happy to be screened; my motivation was to make sure any irregularities were picked up – because the earlier breast cancer is detected, the greater the chance of survival. When I was diagnosed, I thought I wouldn’t get to see my two little boys grow up (then aged 8 and 11). I thought I wouldn’t get to grow old with my partner Mark. I’m still here thanks to the skill of the NHS – 2025 will be 10 years since I was diagnosed. Breast screening might just help save your life. Please go.”
A new survey of 2,000 women conducted by the NHS revealed that almost 40% rarely or never discuss breast screening with their female friends and family. Additionally, almost a quarter (24%) of women said they wouldn’t attend screening if they didn’t already have symptoms like a lump. Other barriers include embarrassment at being topless in front of someone (21%) and concerns about screening being painful (18.5%). However, 83.2% of women said they would attend breast screening if invited.
Thanks to the dedicated efforts of NHS teams, the number of women attending breast screening has increased since 2020/21. The latest data for 2022/23 shows that 4.30 million women were screened in the last three years, representing 66.4% of those eligible. Despite this progress, around a third of women still do not attend screening after being invited, with the figure rising to 46.3% for first-time invitees.
Image credit: iStock
