Reassessment of mammography required

Politicians and researchers call for better education of women about the benefits and risks of mammography

07/20/2014

Since 2002, women between the ages of 50 and 69 can take part in mammography screening free of charge in Germany. Since then politicians and researchers discuss the benefits of breast cancer screening. According to various studies, the investigation carries a high risk of misdiagnosis. More and more voices are being heard after a reassessment of mammography. „Mirror online“ talked to politicians and researchers about the background.

„Mammography does not save any life at all "
Women between the ages of 50 and 69 are entitled to a regular X-ray examination of their breasts. This was decided by the Bundestag in 2002. The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach, who at that time was a consultant to the former Minister of Health Ulla Schmidt (SPD), played a key role in this decision. Now Lauterbach demands a reassessment of the mammography screening. „All new findings are more likely to be against screening, "he told the magazine, and the health spokesman for the Union faction, Jens Spahn, shares this view. „To say after twelve years that we are going to take a close look at the mammography screening and re-evaluate it is certainly reasonable. "

Especially in the criticism is regularly sent to all women of the age group sent leaflet of „Cooperation Community Mammography "and the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA), in which the benefits of X-ray examination of the breast in the opinion of many experts is greatly exaggerated. „It is silent that the overall mortality in the screening group is the same as in the non-screening group. Mammography does not save any life at all, "explained Gerd Gigerenzer, director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, to the magazine „currently being revised“.

The women should finally be better informed about the benefits and risks of the investigation, said Jürgen Windeler, director of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) to the magazine. „If in the end only half of them go to mammography, that would be fine in the sense of a free, informed decision. "Approximately 54 percent of the invited women currently use mammography screening.