Cancer screening programs aim to reduce illness and death resulting from cancer through an organised approach to screening. Australia has three cancer screening programs:
Measures of participation in cancer screening programs tell us how many people participate, and whether factors such as remoteness, socioeconomic status or Indigenous status mean that people are more likely to miss out on the benefits of screening.
The latest national participation data for Australia’s breast and cervical cancer screening programs are for 2010 and 2011, and have been released ahead of other cancer screening data to provide early access to this information. Detailed analyses are provided annually in comprehensive monitoring reports.
Nearly 6 in 10
women (aged 20–69) in Australia had a Pap test in 2010 or 2011. That’s around 3.6 million women.
Over 5 in 10
women (aged 50–69) in Australia had a mammogram through BreastScreen Australia in 2010 or 2011. That’s almost 1.4 million women.
Around 4 in 10
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women had a mammogram through BreastScreen Australia in 2010 or 2011. That is almost 12,000 women.
Cancer screening publications from AIHW