Push to make sure women in West Yorkshire attending breast screening appointments
Recent figures from NHS England show more than a third of women didn't take up their breast screening offer last year
Women aged between 50 and 70 are being urged to attend their breast-screening appointments after it emerged more than a third did not take up the offer last year.
More than two million eligible women have not been screened in the last three years, according to NHS England.
NHS breast screening uses X-rays, known as mammograms, to look for cancers that are too small to see or feel.
Women will be invited to make an initial appointment between the ages of 50 and 53, and will be invited for screening every three years after that until they turn 71.
Data analysed by NHS England showed 8.59 million breast-screening appointments were attended within six months between 2018/19 and 2022/23 out of 13.05 million invitations.
Uptake increased last year, according to officials, although some 35.4% of women did not take up the offer of screening.
Dr Nisha Sharma is the Director of the Breast Screening Programme for Leeds and Wakefield. She said: "We know that breast screening saves lives.
"Evidence has been published that shows early detection of breast cancer is really important, because what that means they're likely to survive from their breast cancer, as well."
Dr Sharma said about the NHS figures it's "not a surprise". She told us: "We've seen a gradual decline in the uptake for breast screening, even pre-pandemic.
"Really what we're seeing now is quite disturbing because there has been quite a mark drop in uptake. We're trying to do what we can, as breast screening programmes to promote uptake."