Women are being reminded not to forget their regular breast cancer and cervical cancer screening tests during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
If you are due for a regular check-up, you should go to your GP for a cervical screening test and book your breast mammogram.
A recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report noted that screening rates were down for both types of cancer screening during 2020 compared to earlier years.
In the case of breast cancer screening, the drop seems to be directly linked to COVID-19.
Overall, there were around 145,000 fewer screening mammograms performed through BreastScreen Australia in January to June 2020, compared with January to June 2018. (2018 is the comparison year instead of 2019, as BreastScreen Australia is a biennial program).
In the case of cervical cancer screening, the testing program has moved from two-year to five-year testing in 2020, so some reduction in testing is to be expected.
Data shows a decline in the number of cervical screening tests from the second half of March 2020. The number of tests remained low throughout April, during which there were fewer than 30,000 cervical screening tests carried out.
However, while there were fewer cervical screening tests in 2020 compared to 2019, the impact of COVID-19 cannot be adequately quantified without further years of data (as 2020 is the first year impacted by the transition to five-yearly screening).
The AIHW report also looked at the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program. It appears that the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a direct effect on the number of tests returned. The number of kits returned rose around the time restrictions started to ease, overtaking the 2019 numbers by the end of June.