They collect signatures to advance mammograms at 40 years of age

Maria Varelaa 43-year-old Galician woman with metastatic breast cancer, registered this Wednesday, along with three other women, a total of 65,000 signatures in it Ministry of Health to demand that the starting age of mammograms be brought forward to 40 years throughout the country, with the aim of facilitating the prevention and cure of the disease.

“Today is a very important day on a path that I hope will be short. Because there is nothing better than celebrating, from my point of view, Women’s Day by advancing breast cancer screenings. Because prevention saves lives“Varela highlighted in statements to the media before proceeding with the registration.

Varela began collecting signatures last November on the ‘Change.org’ platform, after he was diagnosed stage IV metastatic breast cancer, without a cure, and as a result of suffering from low back pain that did not stop. “If they had caught me at a smaller stage, I would have possibilities of treatment. I could also have possibilities of relapses, but I would have a better chance of surviving,” he said.

Therefore, it demands that the start of the tests be anticipated so that other women can benefit and that this be done in the same way in all the autonomous communities, so that access does not depend on the place of residence. In most communities, these tests begin at age 50in line with the Ministry’s recommendations, although some have already advanced them to 45.

Varela has pointed out that her “desire” is for women to be able to access screening many years in advance, not necessarily with mammograms, due to the risks of exposure to radiation, but with other tests such as ultrasound. “Nowadays no one is exempt from cancer”he has asserted.

María Varela has gone to the ministry accompanied by three other women who were diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50. Among them, Esther, who had her first tumor detected at age 31 and another at age 44. In his opinion, healthcare must be aligned with the increase in cancer cases in young women and “awareness” must be reinforced.

For her part, Nuria, who was diagnosed at the age of 46, has insisted that women should self-examine and go to public healthcare gynecological check-ups or, failing that, do them through private healthcare. “Everyone says ‘cancer can be cured nowadays.’ You cure if you detect it in time, if you don’t detect it in time, you don’t cure, there are no options“, he commented.

Meeting with Health

As Varela detailed, the Ministry of Health has agreed to meet with them, but they do not have a set date, so they trust that this symbolic act will serve to exert pressure. “We can’t wait any longer, we need an urgent meetingbecause 18 women die a day from metastatic breast cancer. So, we don’t have time, this is urgent,” he stressed.

Varela has reported that the next step will be contact the governments of the autonomous communities to present the request. As he highlighted, the City Council of A Baña, the municipality of A Coruña in which he resides, has supported the initiative.

The collection of signatures is still open and all those interested can join through this website.

Health evaluates the extension to 45 years

The Ministry of Health has reminded Europa Press that, currently, its recommendation is that mammograms be directed to women between 50 and 69 years oldwho can be tested every two years in the public health system, a measure supported by available scientific evidence. Even so, they have specified that the extension to 45 years is being evaluated.

“Instead, systematic screening in women under 40 years of age is not generally recommended in the population“, they have pointed out. As they have detailed, the public health criteria used by the Ministry establish that screening programs should be applied only when there is a favorable balance between benefits and possible risks.

In this sense, they have explained that, at younger ages, the incidence of breast cancer is lower and The effectiveness of population screening is not so clearly demonstratedso the overall benefit is more limited.

In addition, they have pointed out that starting mammograms widely at very early ages could increase the probability of false positives, additional diagnostic tests or overdiagnosis, which can lead to unnecessary interventions and anxiety in patients. For this reason, early detection strategies focus on the age groups in which scientific evidence shows greater effectiveness.

However, Health has pointed out that women with high individual risk may require different monitoring. In cases like strong family history or genetic predispositionevaluation and screening tests are carried out on an individualized basis, outside the population screening program. In this way, surveillance is adapted to the risk level of each person.