More women across Aotearoa will soon have access to free breast screening. Free mammograms are currently offered to women between the ages of 45 and 69 every two years. From 1 October 2025 the age for free breast screening will start to be extended for women aged 70 and 74, except for the Nelson and Marlborough district which started 1 October 2024 as a pilot region.

Health New Zealand Director Prevention Screening, Alana Ewe-Snow says “Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in New Zealand with about 3,400 women diagnosed each year.  Extending the age of free breast screening will help detect more breast cancers earlier, improve treatment outcomes for those who are diagnosed and ultimately save lives.”

Over the next four years, the age range will be extended each year in October to include all eligible women up to the age of 74 by the end of 2029.  This phased approach will enable breast screening and cancer treatment services to progressively meet the additional demand.

“Women across Aotearoa will be eligible for a further two to three mammograms on average once the age extension is fully implemented” says Ms Ewe-Snow. “Once the age extension is fully implemented – up to 54,000 additional women will be screened each year,” says Ms Ewe-Snow. Around 60 women per year will have invasive breast cancer detected at an earlier, more treatable stage.”

Extending the age for free breast screening is a major milestone for Health New Zealand and BreastScreen Aotearoa; the national breast screening programme.  The last age extension happened over 20 years ago in 2004, when the age range was extended from 50-64 to 45-69.  

Women aged 70 and 74, along with 45- to 69-year-olds, will be invited when due, to book a mammogram through the new national breast screening system called Te Puna. This is a shift away from an opt-in to an opt-out enrolment approach. 

“Te Puna has identified around 135,000 women across Aotearoa - who may be eligible and are not currently accessing free breast screening,” says Ms Ewe-Snow.

Health New Zealand in partnership with Waikanae Health are also pleased to announce a new fixed breast screening site for the Kāpiti Coast district. The site is a refurbishment of an existing purpose-built x-ray room within Waikanae Health. The refurbishment work includes installation of state-of-the-art mammography and diagnostics equipment. “The new fixed site at Waikanae Health will provide capacity for the additional women who will start to come through as a result of extending the age,” says Ms Ewe-Snow.

Dr Herman Van Kradenburg – Managing Director of Waikanae Health says that “for women living on the Kāpiti Coast, this means they will no longer need to wait until the mobile unit visits or need to travel outside the region to receive breast screening.”

“Health New Zealand is working with breast screening providers and screening support service providers across the motu to build capacity in screening workforce, infrastructure and equipment to ensure breast screening service delivery can meet the additional demand for when the extension is fully rolled out by the end of 2029,” says Ms Ewe-Snow.

Additional resources include seven mammography machines, ultrasound machines and supporting equipment plus four new mobile breast screening units to be delivered by early 2026. In addition to the Kāpiti Coast, extra fixed screening and assessment locations in Takapuna and Greenlane (Auckland) are opening in October. A further two sites, in Whangārei and Manukau, will be commissioned later this year.