Minister for Health welcomes report showing impact of cancer screening programmes
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From: Department of Health
- Published on: 22 September 2022
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has welcomed the publication of the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) report showing that screening programmes are contributing to better patient outcomes for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer.
The report from the NCRI shows that cancer cases detected through screening programmes were on average detected at a substantially earlier stage than other cases diagnosed.
Breast, cervical and colorectal cancer 1994-2019: National trends for cancers with population-based screening programmes in Ireland looks at cancer incidence, mortality, stage and survival for patients diagnosed with female breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancer. All three cancers have population-based screening programmes in Ireland.
The report shows:
- almost a third of cervical cancer cases and a quarter of female breast cancer cases diagnosed during 2017-2019 were detected as a result of screening. A smaller proportion of colorectal cancers were screen detected
- screen-detected cancer cases were, on average, detected at a substantially earlier stage than other cases diagnosed at the same ages. Survival has improved for all three cancers, with the biggest improvements in seen in the age-groups targeted by the national screening programmes
- death rates of all three cancers have fallen significantly. Decreases in the age-groups targeted for screening have been more substantial than the overall decreases for all three cancers
Minister Donnelly said:
"I welcome the improvement rates for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. It is encouraging to see how early diagnosis through our screening programmes is linked to the improvement of survival rates. This is because of investment by Government and to those who have attended their screening appointment.
"Our population health screening programmes are a valuable part of our health service, enabling early treatment and care for many people, and improving the overall health of our population. Increasing awareness and strong uptake of our screening programmes will further improve survival rates. Screening programmes can help identify disease before it becomes dangerous and, by doing so, can allow interventions which can prevent and cure disease and thus improve the health of the entire nation.
"Importantly I would also like to strongly encourage all those invited to attend their screening appointment. It is one of the best ways to protect yourself from cancer."