How's this for a statistic? If every woman in New South Wales aged between 50 and 74 who has not been screened in the last two years had a mammogram, over 2000 breast cancers would be found.
As a result, BreastScreen NSW is launching the 'Find The NSW 2000' campaign to raise awareness and encourage women to be screened.
It's frightening to think that the figure refers to only one state, and only women in one age bracket. Imagine how many cases are undetected across the whole country and population.
More than 400,00 women in NSW alone between the ages of 50 and 74 have not had their recommended screening mammogram in the past two years. A possible reason being that many women might not realise it's a free service.
Screening mammograms are the most effective way to find breast cancer before it can be seen or felt. Finding breast cancer in the early stages will give these women the best chance of survival, plus treatment can be less invasive for breast cancers found early.
Another reason why women don't get checked may be that they don't realise breast cancer doesn't necessarily have to run in in the family to be at risk. In fact, 9 in 10 women who develop breast cancer do not have a family history.
Breastscreen NSW has over 200 screening locations across the state. BreastSceen Australia also has a list of screening clinics in each state.