Health Promotion - Screening

Screening is a major public health activity, which aims to detect disease before symptoms appear or before the patient attends a health professional with the disease.

Screening has the potential to save lives and improve quality of life through early diagnosis of serious conditions. Although it is not a guarantee of diagnosis and cure.

For more information on screening visit the National Screening Committee or the National Electronic Library for Health.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in Northern Ireland - 1 in 12 women will develop breast cancer before the age of 75.

If detected at an early stage there is a good chance of successful recovery.  For more information view the leaflet Breast Screening: Your Early Warning System  (PDF 129 KB).

All women aged 50 - 64 in Northern Ireland are invited to have their breasts screened every 3 years by a special x-ray known as a mammogram.

Women aged 65 or over are not automatically called for screening, but can make an appointment through their local screening centre, contact details below.

More information on what to expect if you are called back for a second visit can be found in the leaflet Breast Screening: What to Expect on Your Second Visit  (PDF 201 KB). If these tests show no abnormality then you will be given the leaflet, Breast Screening: Satisfactory Test Results – What Now?  (PDF 117 KB)

For more information on looking out for changes view the leaflet Breast Awareness: Looking Out for Changes  (PDF 134 KB).

Breast Screening: Your Early Warning System  (PDF 129 KB) is also available in the following translations:

Breast Awareness: Looking For Changes  (PDF 134 KB) is also available in the following translations:

Many cases of cancer of the cervix can be prevented. Around 30 to 40 women in Northern Ireland die from this disease each year and many of them had never had a cervical smear.

All women in Northern Ireland aged between 20 and 65 years are offered a cervical smear every 5 years. If you have not had one, you should contact your GP surgery or family planning clinic.

There is a range of tests available to pregnant women to look for possible health problems, which could affect the pregnancy if not detected and treated.

For more Information on the tests normally carried out view the leaflet Protecting You and Your Baby: Your First Antenatal Visit  (PDF 204 KB).

This leaflet has also been translated into

More information on UK wide recommendations can be found at Health For All Children.

The national Screening Committee has  recommended that all people with diabetes should have the back of their eyes photographed every year.

Some areas in Northern Ireland already have this service and there plans are being developed to extend this to other areas.