Hong Kong to launch second phase of free breast cancer screenings on June 10

Hong Kong health authorities will roll out the second phase of a free breast cancer screening programme next month under a pilot scheme that is expected to benefit thousands of women at high risk.

The Department of Health said on Thursday that the three-year scheme, which will be launched on June 10, would cover women aged 35 to 74 who either carried certain genetic mutations or had a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer.

Dr Anne Chee, the department’s head of non-communicable disease, said only “thousands” were expected to benefit from this phase because just those at high risk, such as carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, or relatives of patients with both breast and ovarian cancer, were eligible for free screenings.

The lifetime chance for a woman to develop breast cancer before the age of 70 is about 12 per cent, but that could increase to 60 per cent for carriers of certain gene mutations.

“Many women in Hong Kong are health-conscious and will seek genetic testing on their own, especially family members of breast cancer patients … doctors also typically recommend screening for female relatives of their patients,” she said.

“In the past, they all had to pay out of their pockets. We hope the second phase of the pilot scheme can cover this group of women, offering them free screening and one-stop services.”