Prioritisation of prophylactic (preventive) mastectomy for people at high risk of breast cancer
Under current national and state/territory guidelines for elective surgeries delivered through the public health system, a prophylactic mastectomy is treated as a Category 3 surgery holding a 365-day waiting period.
BCNA is advocating for change because people at high risk of breast cancer shouldn’t have to wait this long to have preventative surgery. We have learned that people are receiving devastating breast cancer diagnoses while they are waiting.
We have developed a position statement calling for the re-categorisation of prophylactic mastectomies for high-risk people (which we have defined as those with BRCA1, BRCA2 or TP53 gene mutations) from Category 3 (365 days) to Category 2 (90 days). This position statement will be launched at Parliament House on 21 November 2024.
How can you get involved?
BCNA is looking for people who want to share their story. Your contribution may form part of our paper and/or inform our ongoing advocacy on this issue. We want to display the true impact that a long wait for a prophylactic mastectomy has on the lives of people who are at a significantly high risk of breast cancer.
What are we asking for?
A 30-minute interview via Teams or phone, or email response to some questions, based on your preference.
We are looking for people who have:
- Chosen to have a prophylactic mastectomy and are currently waiting to have their Category 3 surgery
- Received a breast cancer diagnosis whilst waiting for a prophylactic mastectomy via the public health system
- Waited beyond the 365 days recommended for Category 3 surgery
- Decided to have a prophylactic mastectomy via the private health system the because the surgery wait time through the public system was too long
If you are interested, please contact Julie-Anne Pho, Senior Manager, Policy and Advocacy by 5pm AEDT 30 November 2024.
By phone: (03) 9805 2509
Via email:jpho@bcna.org.au