No, Switzerland has not banned mammograms · Maldita.es

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“Switzerland is the FIRST COUNTRY TO BAN MAMMOGRAPHY. “THE BIGGEST CRIME AGAINST WOMEN,” he says. viral content for, supposedly, “this test stimulating tumor growth.” But it is a hoax: in Switzerland the federal government has not banned mammograms, according to what the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health has indicated to damn.esand most Swiss cantons (the rough equivalent of the autonomous communities in Spain) have such a screening program.

In 2014, the Swiss Medical Council requested to stop widespread breast cancer screening through mammogramsbut not its complete use, and it was not done because they supposedly increase the risk of developing cancer, but rather to avoid overdiagnosis, that is, detect cases that will not be a problem for patients and treat them, with the inconvenience and expense that this entails. suppose.

In any case, scientific evidence supports the use of mammography screening to detect breast cancer in women over 50 years of age.

The Swiss federal government has not banned mammograms

“Switzerland has not banned mammograms. The programs of screening [pruebas diagnósticas que se hacen de forma generalizada a personas en principio sanas para distinguir aquellas que probablemente estén enfermas de las que probablemente no lo están] They are established by the cantons,” they point out damn.es from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. The cantons They are the administrative units that form the federal Swiss State, officially called the Swiss Confederation.

Most Swiss cantons have a breast cancer screening program, as seen in the map below. Swiss Cancer Screening, May 21, 2024. “For women over 50, mammography is the main test to detect this type of cancer. “These women are invited to have a mammogram every two years,” she says on her website. Swiss Cancer League.

Non-binding recommendations from 2014 that do not say that mammograms cause cancer

The hoax is based on an essay published in 2014 in the scientific journal The New England Journal of Medicine with the opinion of Swiss Medical Council. Their position was to recommend that new widespread mammographic screening programs not be introduced, that time limits be placed on current programs, that the quality of screening be evaluated, and that women receive clear information about the benefits and harms. One of the reasons given by the Swiss Medical Council for its position was the risk of overdiagnosis that these programs entail, by detecting tumors that, if they had not been discovered, would not have caused symptoms. This involves repeat mammograms and biopsies for cancers that will not negatively affect health.

However, this scientific position proposed limiting, and not eliminating, mammograms. Furthermore, it was not based on a supposed “stimulation of tumor growth,” but rather because these screening programs entail the unnecessary detection and treatment of tumors, which would not have posed problems, with a physical and emotional cost for the patient such as biopsies and other unnecessary diagnostic tests, in addition to the consequences of cancer treatment.

It should be added that the recommendations of the Swiss Medical Council “are not legally binding”, clarifies the Federal Office of Public Health.

On the other hand, the Swiss Cancer Leaguean organization belonging to the Association of European Leagues against Cancer, If that “recommends and supports breast cancer screening programs” when they are made following the “European quality assurance recommendations”. According to this organization, the advantages of screening programs (early detection means less aggressive treatments, a higher quality of life and fewer deaths) outweigh the disadvantages.

He Swiss Medical Council It ended its activity in 2022. Its mission was to carry out cost-benefit analyzes of medical interventions, “thus contributing to high-quality care and efficient use of resources.” It was created in 2011 by the Federation of Swiss Doctorsthe Swiss Conference of Cantonal Health Directors and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.

Mammograms are recommended for women over 50 years of age

Mammograms use radiation to explore breast tissue and detect abnormalities in it that can help diagnose cancer cases early and thus improve the patient’s diagnosis.

To put into perspective the amount of radiation used in this type of test, it is useful to know some data. The average natural radiation, coming from the soil and the matter that surrounds us, that a person in Spain receives is about 0.6 mSv (milliSievert, a unit that measures the dose of radiation absorbed by living matter) per year. that we receive from food is 0.2 to 0.8 mSv, depending on the nuclear safety council radiation dose report. On the other hand, the average radiation absorbed from mammograms, according to the Council’s report, is 0.51 mSv per year. “The radiation it emits is very low,” pointed to damn.es José E. Gordillo, specialist in radiodiagnosis at the Northern Sanitary Area of ​​Córdoba .

A review of scientific evidence published in 2017 estimated the risk of breast cancer induced by radiation from mammograms. The result showed that the probability of mammograms causing cancer is “small relative to the possible beneficial effects of screening.”

For him French National Cancer Institute, the risk of death from radiation-induced cancer is between one and 10 in every 100,000 women who have had a mammogram every two years for 10 years. “The number of deaths prevented by screening far exceeds the risk of death from radiation-induced cancer“, they conclude.

Of course, there is no evidence that women under 40 benefit from mammograms, according to the US National Cancer Institute. That’s why, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends organized mammography screening programs in women between 50 and 69 years old, with tests every two years. The results of this screening suggest a reduction in mortality from breast cancer of around 20% after 11 years of follow-up, according to the WHO.

In short, it is not true that Switzerland has banned mammograms due to an alleged risk that they stimulate tumor growth. Although it is true that radiation from medical tests such as mammograms has effects on our bodies, it is a very small percentage of the total radiation we receive on a regular basis. The available studies in this regard indicate that, when applied to the appropriate population, the benefits of these screening programs far outweigh their risks.