More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Ontario will be lowering the age for self-referral for breast cancer screenings from 50 to 40 years, making it the latest province to make the change—and spurring questions for whether more provinces will follow suit.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said Monday that the change will help with early detection of cancer, and will mean an additional 130,000 mammograms are completed in the province each year.
The move comes after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a draft recommendation earlier this year that suggested regular screenings in the U.S. should start at 40 instead of 50.
Provinces and territories often take their cue for cancer screening from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC), whose current guidelines conditionally recommend not screening women aged 40-49 years.
"The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care is aware that Ontario is lowering the age for self-referral for mammograms to 40. The Task Force is currently conducting a comprehensive evidence-based review process to update its breast cancer screening guidelines,” Dr. Guylene Theriault, co-chair of the CTFPHC, told CTVNews.ca in an email statement Monday.
“All available evidence is being reviewed as part of this process. We continue to focus on our evidence-based work and look forward to sharing our results with the goal of providing credible and unbiased recommendations to support the health and well-being of women."
Starting in the fall of 2024, eligible women, non-binary, trans and two-spirit people in Ontario between the ages of 40 and 74 can self-refer for a mammogram every two years.
So what is the status of breast cancer screening across the rest of the country?
B.C.’s screening program is the oldest in the country, accepting its first patient in 1988. Screening mammograms are available by self-referral in B.C. to those aged 40 years and older, although BC Cancer advises those aged 40-49 to talk to a health-care provider about the benefits and limitation of mammography first.
The screening interval for women aged 40-49 is biennial, unless they have a first-degree family history of breast cancer, in which case they are recommended to receive a mammogram every year.
A year ago, Alberta lowered the recommended age for breast cancer screening, stating that women should begin screening every two years starting at age 45 instead of age 50.
Albertans aged 40-44 who wish to get a mammogram still have to get a referral from their doctor.
Saskatchewan still provides screening mammograms only to women 50 years of age or older, with those of average risk recommended to receive screening every two years.
Residents aged 40-49 who are of average risk can secure a referral to a diagnostic centre through their family physician, according to guidance from the Screening Program for Breast Cancer, which cited the CTFPHC guidelines as helping to shape their policy.
Starting at age 50, Manitobans will receive a letter to make a screening mammogram appointment every two years, with no doctor’s referral needed for this age group.
Breast cancer awareness advocates have been calling for the province to lower the minimum age for self-referral.
Read more: Advocates call for changes to Manitoba’s breast cancer screening process
The province stated Monday that they will be evaluating whether or not it will lower the age of regular breast screenings to 40 years old.
"The Programme québécois de cancérologie, like other jurisdictions, keeps abreast of new recommendations for cancer screening on an ongoing basis," the Quebec Health Ministry tells CTV News. "Developments in the scientific literature are monitored on an ongoing basis."
At the end of September, the province announced that it would be expanding its cancer screening to allow women aged 40-49 to self-refer for a mammogram.
The province noted in a press release that deaths in this age group account for 17.5 per cent of all breast cancer deaths in Canada.
“With early detection comes less aggressive treatments and a better quality of life for the patient and their family,” Sherry Wilson, minister responsible for addictions and mental health services, said in the release. “This will allow women who are diagnosed to return to a normal life sooner.”
According to the release, the program will be “in place early next year.”
Nova Scotia recommends mammography screening for asymptomatic women at least 40 years old. Those aged 40-49 are recommended to receive annual screening, while those aged 50-74 are recommended to receive a mammogram every two years, unless they need an annual frequency due to being of higher risk.
P.E.I’s guidelines are similar to Nova Scotia’s, with screening recommended annually for those aged 40-49 and screening recommended every two years for those aged 50-74.
Patients can self-refer to the PEI Breast Screening Program.
Breast cancer screening is only offered to women aged 50-74 years through the province’s program.
“Eastern Health follows the Canadian Task Force Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) guidelines, which state that the benefits of mammography screening increases with age, and they recommend not screening women under 50 but to screen women over 50 to age 74 every two-three years,” the health agency states on their website.
The Yukon Mammography Program offers screening mammograms at Whitehorse General Hospital to women aged 40 years or older. Eligible women 40 years or older can make an appointment by calling directly.
“A screening mammogram can be ordered by your physician – or if you are over the age of 40 (and do not have any specific breast concerns) you can self-refer,” the hospital website states.
The territory recommends that women of average risk aged 50-74 are screened every two years. It is possible for residents to start having mammograms in their 40s, but they need a referral from a health-care provider for the first mammogram.
There is no organized screening program for breast cancer in Nunavut currently. Residents have to secure a referral from a health-care provider to receive a mammogram, and while some mammograms can be done in Iqualuit, according to the territory's Department of Health, residents may be referred to a centre in another province or territory.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
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A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”