Photo: Damian Dovarganes Associated Press via The canadian Press
The testing centres can start now to make the screening mammograms.
The screening mammograms of breast cancer to resume in Quebec. Women whose test was cancelled because of the pandemic of COVID-19 will have a new appointment soon.
In a new directive issued on 4 June, the ministry of Health and social Services (DHSS) announces the resumption of the activities of breast cancer screening. By Friday, each region will submit a plan to the MSSS, which will approve it.
Testing centres may, however, start now to make the screening mammograms of women who have had their appointments cancelled over the last three months.
As for the follow-up screening annual cancer of the breast, they can be reprinted in a cold area, as the follow-up 6 and 12 months, according to the MSSS.
“This is good news !” said Dr. Geneviève Tondreau, medical council and the medical director of the quebec Program of breast cancer screening at the regional directorate of Montreal public health.
Since a few weeks, of doctors militated in favour of a faster recovery in the screening and follow-up among women who already had breast cancer. They feared an accumulation of cases in the hospitals this summer.
The recovery could vary from one region to the other. “Each region must assess its ability to investigate and deal with cases that are detected,” says Dr. Geneviève Tondreau. If it detects a breast cancer and a woman can not be seen by a surgeon prior to three months, it is not more advanced. “
The physician noted, however, that the “majority of breast cancers” detected in the framework of the program ” progressing slowly “.
In Quebec, more than 350 000 mammograms are performed in the framework of the quebec Program of breast cancer screening, according to the national Institute of public health of Quebec. Women 50 to 69 years are invited to undergo a screening test every two years.
With the pandemic, many women who have voluntarily enrolled in the program are reluctant to undergo a screening mammogram, for fear of contracting the COVID-19, ” says Dr. Geneviève Tondreau. “But the centres of radiology comply with the letter of the rules of the public health, such as the distance of two meters “, does it need to be clarified.
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