The latest BreastScreen Victoria participation rate report cards have been released to Victorian Members of Parliament.The report cards indicate the percentage of eligible women in each electorate who participate in the program.
The initiative is in its third year and was launched by Victorian Health Minister David Davis at the Parliament House Legislative Council Committee Room. Nineteen electorate participation rates have improved since the 2010-12 results were issued last year.
The most improved electorates in 2011-13 are Bendigo East, Kilsyth, Ripon and Warrandyte, which are all up by 3% to a participation rate of 62%. Twenty four electorate participation rates are the same or similar to 2010-12 results and 44 results have decreased.
The top three performing electorates are:
- South Barwon (Andrew Katos) 65%
- Geelong (Ian Trezise) 64%
- Bellarine (Lisa Neville) 63%
In 2012-13, BreastScreen Victoria screened 221,375 women, which is more than ever before. Despite this, there has been a larger increase in the number of women ageing into the target age range than the increase in the number of women screening. This has caused the program participation rate to slightly decrease from 55 per cent in 2010-12 to 54 per cent in 2011-13. This, coupled with the recent Federal Government extension to the target age range from 50-69 to 50-74, means it is more important than ever for MPs and BreastScreen Victoria to join forces to encourage women to have a breast screen every two years. Each MP who attended was presented with their report card by board members and staff and had the opportunity to share their experiences of how they have raised awareness of the program in their electorate.
