Breast cancer screening must be made available to all women over 65 as a matter of urgency, the National Council for Ageing and Older People has said.
Currently, free screening is only available to women in the 50-64 age group in certain parts of the State. Council director Bob Carroll said there was no reason why older women should be discriminated against.
"The numbers of people with breast cancer over the age of 65 are very, very substantial," he said at the launch of "Say No to Ageism Week", which began yesterday with a billboard and radio campaign.
BreastCheck, which provides the screening service, has said there is mounting evidence that screening should be provided to women over 64. However, widening the age group is a matter for the Government as it involves changes to regulations.
Screening is not available to all 50 to 64-year-old women in the south, west and parts of the east so it is likely that the age-group will not be widened until all high-risk women are screened.
Meanwhile, a study published in the UK yesterday suggests magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are almost twice as effective at detecting breast cancer in younger women than conventional mammography
In a study funded by the Medical Research Council in the UK, MRI pinpointed 77 per cent of tumours in a group of women aged 35 to 49, whereas only 40 per cent showed up in mammograms. When the two techniques were used together, the detection rate rose to 94 per cent.
A total of 838 women with a strong family history of breast cancer took part in the new study.
Women with inherited forms of breast cancer often suffer the disease at a relatively young age.
(Additional reporting PA)
