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A joint working group with members from across Health NZ (including Planning, Funding and Outcomes, BreastScreen Aotearoa, and Hauora Māori Services), Te Aho o Te Kahu and the Public Health Agency in Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora, has completed A Technical Review of Breast Density Reporting in Cancer Screening.
This report is an overview of the New Zealand and international context and experience of breast density reporting as it relates to breast cancer screening effectiveness.
Offering a review of international research on how breast density correlates to breast cancer risk as well as a summary of breast density reporting standards across the world in health systems comparable to New Zealand’s, the review provides a foundation and rich source of information for future work on breast screening in our health system.
In light of the findings of this technical review, Health NZ is working to establish the requirements, costs, benefits and timeframes for incorporating breast density measurement and reporting as part of the national breast screening programme, BreastScreen Aotearoa.