Hungary aims to increase the number of breast screenings by 10 percent this year, Minister of State for Healthcare Miklós Szócska said on Friday at a press conference in Székesfehérvár, central Hungary. Attendance of organised breast screenings was low and women had to be made more aware of the importance of this preventive measure, he declared.

Mr. Szócska said low attendance was caused by low public awareness of screening opportunities, and one aim of the current campaign was to popularise mammographs.

He also said that the HPV vaccine will become free in schools for girls aged 12-13 and that nationwide HPV screening was also being implemented. In one Hungarian county there was also a pilot project running to assess the feasibility of colon screening.

Minister of State Szócska said the breast screening awareness campaign in Fejér County was just the first such drive to be launched in every county this year.

(Ministry of Human Resources)