Women in South Leeds urged to take up invite for breast screening

Invitations to attend breast cancer screenings are currently being sent to women living in areas of Middleton and Hunslet. Anyone who has received an invitation for a breast screening are urged to please book their appointment as soon as possible.

Every three years, women in the city aged between 47 and 73 years-old are routinely invited to undertake a screening, which involves a mammogram X-ray. The aim of the mammogram procedure is to detect any small changes in breast tissue that may indicate cancers that are too small to be seen or felt by the woman herself or a doctor.

A range of work is currently being undertaken to boost screening rates in Leeds, which have been impacted by the varied challenges of coronavirus. Breast screening saves around 1,300 lives each year in the UK.

One such project being delivered in the city seeking to improve participation in the screening programmes for breast cancer and also bowel cancer and cervical cancer is Cancer Wise Leeds. The project is funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, led by Leeds City Council and delivered in partnership with the Leeds Cancer Programme. Supporting this aim over the three-year programme are six Screening and Awareness coordinators. Working within Primary Care Networks in communities across the city, the coordinators are working with communities to better understand how the screening process could be improved to meet their needs.

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s Executive Member with responsibility for Public Health and Active Lifestyles, said:

“Through different partnership initiatives such as Cancer Wise Leeds we are working extremely hard as a city to not only increase uptake in screenings, but also support various initiatives focusing on the key areas of prevention and awareness.

“Screening plays a hugely vital role in detecting cancer early, and we would urge anyone who has been invited for a breast screening in Leeds to please book their appointment immediately.”

 

This post is based on a press release issued by Leeds City Council