Manitoba legislation aims to improve screening for breast cancer

Manitoba has introduced legislation that targets breast cancer screening for higher-risk women, on the heels of lowering the screening age.

Bill 32 would mandate CancerCare Manitoba to make a plan that increases access to screenings, including for Black and Indigenous women and other people of colour.

“This legislation makes sure that the most vulnerable women in our communities — those who we know are currently not being screened, who do not have access — will be able to do so,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Tuesday.

If the Improving Access to Breast Cancer Screening Act passes, CancerCare Manitoba will have six months to develop a plan. Updates must be delivered every five years, the bill reads.

Plans would include identifying barriers to access and annual target rates for screening participation. The cancer authority would need to report annually on screening participation rates.

The province has been working with CancerCare Manitoba and “partners” in the health care system on the proposed legislation, Asagwara said.

Still, Manitoba lacks 13 mammographers needed to meet demand. It’s working with CancerCare Manitoba to create “a really easy pathway” for people to become trained and certified, Asagwara said.

Last December, the provincial government said it had hired seven new mammographers. On Jan. 2, the breast cancer screening age dropped to 45 from 50. Asagwara has said the New Democrats would lower the age to 40 by the end of this year.

The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, which represents mammography technologists, applauded the province’s move to make CancerCare Manitoba develop plans to improve access.

However, the legislation “doesn’t go far enough,” president Jason Linklater said in a statement.

He pointed to the lack of mammography technologists. They come from the “same pool of scarce allied health professionals” needed to perform X-rays and CT scans.

“CancerCare should already have a plan to ensure Manitoba has the specialized workforce needed to meet the demands of this new legislation,” Linklater’s statement reads.

“That plan must be made public now, not just provided to the minister upon request in future.”

Reporting on accessibility should happen sooner than 2028, as is proposed in the legislation, Linklater said.

— With files from Carol Sanders

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com