|
Push is on to fight breast screening cut
Reported October 15, 2009
A new push to fight Queensland government plans to limit access to breast
screening services will be launched on the Gold Coast on Thursday.
The campaign, "Who's Handling Your Breasts", is being led by the Liquor
Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, one of Australia's largest
unions.
Union health and aged care coordinator Jenelle Head says breast screening
services are delivered to more than a quarter of a million Queensland women
annually but demand for the service will not be met because of a shortage of
radiographers.
"The tragic outcome of this is that breast cancer will go undetected and
women may die as a result," Ms Head said.
"The LHMU is extremely concerned that Queensland Health, which manages the
service in Queensland, has done little to address the radiographer
shortage."
The union, which represents more than 1,800 radiographers throughout
Queensland, says successive state and federal governments have failed to
address the issue for several years.
"Women from certain age groups will be at risk due to a recommendation from
the BreastScreen Australia Evaluation Report that suggests they be barred
from having a free mammogram," Ms Head said.
"They have to be in a certain age window - the report recommends screening
no longer be made available to women under 45 or over 75.
"That would mean if you're younger or older than that you can't get a breast
screen through the service because they just don't have enough
radiographers.
"At the moment we can only screen 56 per cent of the target population and
we should be closer to 70 per cent."
Source : AAP |
