Annual Report 2006

Early Detection
29
Breast Cancer
The ICA continues to support the operation of
regional Clinics for the early detection of breast
cancer throughout the country.
The national education program promoting
breast care awareness and recognition of
the importance of early detection of breast
cancer is conducted for all women in Israel.
Efforts are invested in various sectors of the
population such as the Arab sector, Kibbutzim,
new immigrants, Ultra-Orthodox women, etc.
Informative material on the subject is distributed
in hundreds of thousands of copies in Hebrew,
Arabic and Russian.
National Mammography Project
The National Mammography Project initiated and
currently run by the ICA in conjunction with the
Ministry of Health and the Healthcare Funds, has
been monitoring breast cancer detection activity
in Israel for the past thirteen years. Prof. Gad
Rennert, Director of the Community Medicine
and Epidemiology at Carmel Hospital, heads
this evaluation program.
Since the outset of this program, the number
of mammography units operating in Israel has
grown from 20 to 56 - 44 of which are currently
monitored by the National Mammography Project.
This monitoring program consists of operation
under defined national and international standards,
that provides the necessary information
and facilitate monitoring of detection quality.
These institutes under quality assurance control,
receive complete information on these detection
rates, on the features of tumors detected and
possible false negative results.
The main objective of the National Mammography
Project is to ensure a decrease in breast
cancer mortality rates, as has been proven
in population studies that have found a 30%
decrease in mortality in women screened over
the age of 50.
This year the scheduled appointments for mammography
screening continue, conducted in
close collaboration with the healthcare funds.
All women between the ages of 50 and 74 are
summoned once every two years. The mammography
program and summoning activity
have raised the compliance rate, which currently
stands at about 65%.
Satisfaction Survey - Mammography
Institutes in Israel
Over the past year a telephone survey was
conducted to rate satisfaction with National
Mammography Project mammography institutes
in Israel, established upon the initiative of
the ICA and operated in collaboration with the
Ministry of Health and the healthcare funds.
The survey was conducted among a sample
of 3300 women who were screened at one of
the 38 institutes that are part of the National
Mammography Project.
The women were interviewed within two days
of having undergone the test and were asked
to rate on a scale from 1 to 6 their satisfaction
with the physical conditions at the institute
and the treatment of the attending staff; they
were also asked to evaluate pain during the
test, the degree to which their privacy was
maintained and their general satisfaction
with the institute. 77% of the women rated
their overall satisfaction with the institute very
high, 19% expressed great satisfaction and only
4% of the women expressed average or lower
satisfaction. Great satisfaction was conveyed
regarding physical conditions at the institutes,
treatment of the attending staff and the degree
to which privacy was maintained throughout the
entire process. 25% of the women indicated
that the test was painful. 90% of the women
indicated that they were admitted by the institute
office within 10 minutes of their arrival.
Slight differences between private institutes
and public institutes emerged in the rating of
overall satisfaction and satisfaction with the
physical conditions at the institute, in favor of
the private institutes; however no difference
was found between the institutes in satis-