Breast screening needed immediately

It was with much interest that I read the piece about breast cancer by Gordon Caruana Dingli, who wrote: "Breast screening is not a way of preventing breast cancer but a means of detecting it at an early stage".

As a breast cancer survivor, I was told by my doctors to continue regular screening after my move here. It seems from my understanding of what I read that there is no likelihood of that.

I quote again: "A breast screening project must be well planned with a strong commitment to quality".

A programme needs to be put in place now. The perfect system will never exist. It must meet the needs of the patients - and they are so varied that the system could never be perfect. A system, rather than no system, is better for the patients. Such a system could be targeted to specific groups of women (and men), and extended and adjusted.

In this way, the needs of the patients will be met, vulnerable groups can be screened and effective use of resources will save lives.

To rely on self-examination by women is ludicrous. By then it is often "too late" for some. If we are to wait for the latest methods to become available and to be shown effective we will never have screening in Malta and Gozo.