Breast Cancer Screening Plan Needed Soon, Says Group

The Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation on Sunday called on the government to roll out as soon as possible a detailed plan to screen women in the city for breast cancer.

The group's founder Dr Polly Cheung said regular breast cancer screening can reduce cancer deaths by 40 percent , and women aged 40 and above should get tested once every two years.

"This also implies that a woman can suffer less, because if it is detected at an early stage they do not have to remove the whole breast, they can have less opportunity to undergo chemotherapy, and they can preserve their lymphnodes and reduce arm swelling," Cheung added.

She said there was also an important economic benefit.

"If you are going to treat a stage four cancer it will probably take millions of dollars, but if you treat an early cancer it is just tens of thousands," she explained.

The foundation said that in 2017 around 5,000 women in Hong Kong had the disease, which is the most common cancer among women here.

It said Hong Kong is lagging behind more than 30 countries around the world which have been providing regular breast screening for women.

Cheung said the government should start by providing or subsidising screenings for high-risk people including women aged 40 or above and those living in low-income districts.

She said the foundation welcomes the government's recent acknowledgement in Legco of the need of breast screening for women, saying it's a step forward.

The government has told lawmakers that it will announce further details of the way forward within this year.