Overview
- The Health Ministry says RedETS is assessing a shift from the current 50–69 guideline toward starting at 45 and extending to 74 in line with EU advice.
- Osakidetza will invite first mammograms at 48 instead of 50 and plans to reach 45 in 2027, citing clinical backing and higher incidence in women aged 45–49.
- The Basque screening program performs about 3,000 mammograms weekly, records 79–80% participation, and identified 715 cancers in 2024, mostly at early stages.
- Patient pressure is growing, including a Change.org campaign by 43-year-old María Varela that has drawn more than 53,500 signatures to start screening at 40.
- Experts remain split on the start age—radiologists support 40 and Fecma favors 45—while clinicians caution about false positives, overdiagnosis, and the lack of a unified national registry to track trends in younger women.