The Irish Cancer Society wants to see a plan for getting cancer screening programmes up and running again.
(Source: needpix.com)The Irish Cancer Society is calling for a detailed roadmap for the return of screening programmes.
It comes as figures reveal no mammograms were carried out in the month of April, compared to 13,763 mammograms undertaken in April 2019.
The number of samples sent to cervical check labs in that time frame was also down by 96 per cent
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil is calling for a supercharging of cancer screening as restrictions are lifted, along with a public information campaign.
The party's health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly claims oncologists here are staring down the barrel of a cancer crisis here:
"It's taking longer to have their patients diagnosed, it's taking longer to get operating theatre time. Across the board we have got to get the cancer services back up and running or we are in danger of having a higher fatality rate from extra cancer deaths, even higher than from Covid-19, which is something we can and must avoid."
