Hi everyone, Sam here from the Policy & Advocacy Team at BCNA. This is such an important conversation and is a key priority for us this year as we are engaging with the national review of BreastScreen which includes consideration of things like risk stratification and the reporting of breast density.
BreastScreen Victoria is now the latest state/territory BreastScreen service to make a commitment to report breast density - although this has not yet been implemented. We will be advocating for the remaining services to follow suit as soon as possible (QLD and NSW likely to be looking at this in 2025).
Whilst we join the RANZCR in the position that breast density should be reported - we do acknowledge the counter arguments that exist. One of these is that currently the majority of alternate screening techniques recommended for women with high breast density such as contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM), ultrasound, or MRI are not funded by Medicare and incur high out-of-pocket costs. It is an ethical dilemma in telling someone they have high breast density and also advising them that they may not be able to access the screening that they need due to how much it costs.
It is still our position that we must empower consumers with this information, but we acknowledge the parallel piece of work we need to do to advocate for these alternate screening techniques to be subsidised for those who need it to ensure equity of access.
I wanted to assure you all this is a top priority for us in 2024 and we hope to have some progress to share as soon as possible. Please reach out if you have any specific questions, the team is always here to help.
