A Co Monaghan cancer survivor has expressed her outrage over targets missed by the HSE when it comes to the 'Breast Check' national screening service.
It was revealed this week that the national screening service has missed its targets for two years in a row.
It screened just over 137,000 women for breast cancer last year, compared to a target of 195,000.
In 2023, the service fell short of its target by nearly 20,000 however it exceeded its goals in 2022 and 2021.
Michelle Kelly said she is "deeply disappointed" by these figures.
The mum--of-three's cancer journey started back in April 2022 when she was only 38.
Though Michelle was diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease, she says early detection saved her life.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Michelle says the 'Breast Check' screening service is "vital" to women's health: "I'm just deeply disappointed. It's so disappointing to hear these figures and it undermines your trust in this system. This system is vital to women's health and delaying early detection puts the lives of women at risk. I would love to see the breast screening age lowered to 40 but given the gaps that we are hearing of now and the targets missed you would struggle to have confidence in the system. How can we be certain that expanding the programme will be managed effectively? Immediate action is needed to address these issues."
