Half the women who were invited for breast screening at the breast screening clinic have had the test, Health Minister Joseph Cassar said today.

He said this was a very positive result, considering that in the UK, it took 10 years to reach that level. The breast screening clinic was opened last year.

Dr Cassar said that seven of every 1,000 women who were screened were found to have early stages of cancer and were immediately referred for treatment.

The minister was speaking at the Convention of the Maltese living abroad, where he gave an overview of health services in Malta.

The national breast screening programme was launched in October, with the initial screening focussed on women aged between 50 and 59.

About 30,000 women will be called for screening over over a period of three years.