Free breast cancer screening for Quebec women aged 70 to 74

A patient undergoes a mammogram to detect early signs of breast cancer. (AFP)

Quebec is now offering free access to breast cancer screenings to women aged 70 to 74.

Until now, the program has been offered exclusively to women aged 50 to 69.

The screenings will be offered every two years at designated screening centres whether or not a woman has a physician's referral.

Since Feb. 1, eligible women have received personalized invitations by mail, enabling them to book mammogram appointments at recognized radiology clinics.

They do not need to obtain a prescription from a health care professional.

The Quebec government has also mandated the Institut national d'excellence en santé et services sociaux (INESSS) to evaluate the possibility of lowering the age of screenings to 40.

The Quebec Health Ministry notes that the Canadian Cancer Society has found that breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Canada and is the second leading cause of cancer death among Canadian women.

In Quebec, some 8,000 new cases of breast cancer appear every year, and around 80 per cent of these cases affect women aged 50 and over.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 5, 2024.