Staff shortages at national health screening centres are preventing thousands of women in the Netherlands from receiving timely invitations for breast cancer screening. Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM) warns that these delays are lowering overall participation rates. Late detection of tumours could ultimately increase mortality among women who might otherwise have been cured.
Nearly 1.2 million women received a breast cancer screening invitation last year. This represents a drop of more than 6 per cent compared to the previous year. Patricia Hugen, head of population screening at RIVM, attributes this decline directly to labour market shortages that slow down the invitation process.
Around 820,000 invited women attended screening sessions last year. This attendance dropped by 7 per cent, matching the decline in invitations. Participation rates remain steady, with slightly more than two out of three invited women attending. Attendance remains lowest among women under 55 and those aged 70 or older.
Cervical cancer screenings also dropped slightly, falling from over 385,000 to nearly 360,000. A major cyberattack at the Clinical Diagnostics laboratory in Rijswijk caused significant disruptions. Hackers stole medical records belonging to hundreds of thousands of women. The breach caused widespread concern among the target demographic. Partner laboratories struggled to handle the extra workload, forcing RIVM to temporarily halve the number of initial invitation letters.
@ anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
