NHS England launches first-ever breast cancer screening campaign

New data has shown that around a third of women do not attend screenings after being invited

NHS England has launched its first-ever breast cancer awareness campaign aimed at highlighting the benefits of screening for the disease.

The drive, supported by Breast Cancer Now, comes as a new NHS survey of 2,000 women revealed that almost 40% rarely or never talk about breast screening with their female friends and families, and 24% would not attend unless they had symptoms.

Breast cancer screening is offered every three years to women aged between 50 and 71, and involves taking X-rays of the breasts, called mammograms. These are then used to identify changes in the breast tissue that could indicate early signs of cancer.

However, new data has shown that around a third of women do not attend screenings after being invited, with this rising to 46.3% among those invited for the first time.

NHS estimates suggest that if screening attendance could be improved to 80% of those eligible in 2025/26, approximately 925,000 more women could be screened compared to 2022/23.

The TV, radio and online adverts that have been launched as part of the campaign will see celebrities, cancer survivors, NHS staff and TV doctors write ‘unofficial’ invitation letters to women to reassure and encourage them to attend their screenings.

NHS National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, said: “Breast screening detects breast cancers earlier and saves lives – but we know for many women there can be lots of reasons why they might be reluctant to come forward, or why it’s not top of the priority list in their very busy lives.

“That’s why the NHS has… launched its first-ever campaign to support more women to make the most of breast screening and to address some of the misgivings and misconceptions they might have.”