Hong Kong considering whether to roll out breast cancer screening scheme
Research will examine whether government should lead screening amid 'controversy', health minister Dr Ko Wing-man says
The government will next study the possibility of introducing screening for breast cancer, as it prepares to roll out a pilot scheme to check for colorectal cancer at the end of this year at the earliest.
A study, commissioned by the government, would explore the feasibility of introducing a screening programme for the disease, including "identifying risk factors of breast cancer in Hong Kong", Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said.
"The findings can facilitate the formation of evidence-based recommendations and policy on breast cancer screening," Ko said yesterday at a health care conference named "The war on cancer" hosted by The Economist.
There is currently no government-led screening programme for breast cancer, despite the fact it is the most common cancer among local women, data from the Hospital Authority's Cancer Registry shows. The city recorded 3,508 new cases in 2012.
In the private sector, concern groups including the Breast Cancer Foundation offer free mammography for low-income women over the age of 40.
The Food and Health Bureau said the main objectives of the study were to "develop a risk prediction model of breast cancer" and to "understand the relative strength of association" between the risk factors and breast cancer. Details were not yet available.
The government's attitude seemed to have changed since October, when Ko told lawmaker Elizabeth Quat that there was "insufficient evidence" to conduct mammography screening.