Ontario lowers age limit for publicly funded mammograms

Women over the age of 40 in Ontario, Canada, can now self-refer for publicly funded mammograms through the government’s breast cancer screening program, officials said in an October 8 news release.

The province invested nearly $20 million to increase the ability of its participating Ontario Breast Screening Program partners to connect more women to breast cancer screening by adding more site hours, appointment spots, and training additional staff, according to the statement.

Lowering the age of self-referral from 50 to 40 provides an additional one million women the option to self-refer for mammograms. Of these, an estimated 305,000 will self-refer for screening, officials said.