Health approves expanding breast cancer screenings to women between 45 and 74 years old
Communities will have up to six years to reach near 100% coverage in the new age groups
The Public Health Commission has approved the expansion of breast cancer screening to women between 45 and 74 years of age. Until now, screenings were carried out on women between 50 and 70 years of age. In this way, the age groups between 45 and 49 years and between 70 and 74 will now be added. However, the implementation will not be immediate: communities will have up to six years to achieve near 100% coverage in the new age groups. The measure will require an investment of 534 million euros between 2025 and 2029.
The approved expansion of screenings responds to the recommendations of the Network of Health Technology Assessment Agencies and the Council of the European Union, as well as to the available clinical evidence, which indicates that around 10% of breast cancers in Spain are diagnosed in women under 50 years of age.
Test every two years
The new proposal maintains a screening periodicity of every two years for the entire new age range, as was already stipulated for women who were already within the control range. Although the Public Health Commission gave the green light to the measure this Wednesday, there are some communities such as Navarra, Castilla y León, La Rioja, and Castilla-La Mancha that had already incorporated the age range of 45 to 49 years into their early detection programs for breast cancer in women. Furthermore, Galicia has already provided results from the 70 to 74 age group.
Now, all communities will have up to three years to initiate the modification of their program, and up to six to have near 100% coverage. The option of initially implementing a screening interval of every three years before definitively consolidating the biennial periodicity is contemplated.
