Spain’s Interterritorial Council of the National Health System has approved a draft order extending population breast cancer screening to women aged 45 to 74. The programme currently covers women aged 50 to 69.
Mammography will remain the screening method, generally carried out every two years. The 45–49 and 70–74 age groups will be added gradually.
All Spain’s autonomous communities, as well as the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, must begin updating the programme within three years of the order taking effect. Within six years, the share of women invited to participate in the new age groups should approach 100%.
During the rollout, the interval between mammograms for the new groups may initially be set at three years. It will shift to two years once implementation is complete. Each territory will plan the rollout according to available resources.
The draft order also updates the National Health System’s common benefits package. It expands coverage for intraocular lenses and mobility support devices and revises requirements for the composition of some publicly funded dietary products.
The prenatal screening programme for infectious diseases will also be renamed the prenatal screening programme for transmissible diseases. Its content and scope will remain unchanged.
