TV, radio and online adverts aimed at increasing uptake of routine mammograms for women aged 50 to 71. Women in England will be encouraged to attend potentially life-saving screenings for breast cancer in TV, radio and online adverts as part of the first NHS awareness campaign for the disease. Women in the UK are invited for their first routine mammogram between the ages of 50 and 53, with further invitations arriving every three years until they reach 71, after which they can request screening.
It is estimated that the programme – which is aimed at people without symptoms – prevents 1,300 deaths each year in the UK, and figures suggest it picked up cancers in 18,942 women across England last year alone. Without screening, the NHS says, such cancers may not have been diagnosed or treated until a later stage. While breast screening levels in England are rising, they remain lower than before the pandemic, with data from NHS England released in October revealing uptake was 64.6% in 2022-23, compared with 71.1% in 2018-19. Among those invited for the first time, the most recent figure was just 53.7%.
Now NHS England is attempting to increase attendance through a campaign supported by charities including Breast Cancer Now and Cancer Research UK, with celebrities, TV doctors, NHS staff and cancer survivors sharing open letters to women. In her letter, the Newsnight anchor 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.”.
Derbyshire said that when she was diagnosed with breast cancer she feared she would not live to see her children grow up, or to grow old with her partner. “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,” she said. The campaign builds on a new “ping and book” service in which women are alerted via the NHS app that they are due, or overdue, breast screening.
While screening does not pick up all cancers, or might detect a cancer that does not cause harm, experts stress the national screening programme is important. The NHS estimates that increasing attendance to 80% in 2025-26 could result in almost a million more women receiving mammograms, and catch over 7,500 more cancers at an early stage. The NHS’s national cancer director, Dame Cally Palmer, said: “Breast screening detects breast cancers earlier and saves lives – but we know for many women there can be lots of reasons why they might be reluctant to come forward, or why it’s not top of the priority list in their very busy lives.
