NHS launches first-ever breast screening campaign to help detect thousands of cancers earlier 

Thousands more breast cancers could be detected earlier in England next year in a major new NHS drive to support more women to attend potentially life-saving breast screening. 

The NHS in England has today launched its first-ever awareness campaign to highlight the benefits of screening and encourage more women to make the most of regular mammograms, as figures show more than four in ten (46.3%) invited for the first time don’t act on their invitation.  

The campaign – supported by leading charity Breast Cancer Now – launches with a new advert across TV, radio and online to highlight that screening can detect cancer as early as possible, while providing reassurance and relief to millions of women who get the all-clear.

New NHS estimates suggest that if screening attendance could be improved to 80% of those eligible next year (2025/26), nearly a million more women (around 925,000) could be screened, compared to 2022/23 – with over 7,500 additional breast cancers detected at an earlier stage, when they are more treatable. 

The landmark NHS campaign sees celebrities including Newsnight anchor Victoria Derbyshire, broadcaster and presenter Julia Bradbury, and Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas write ‘unofficial’ invitation letters to women about their personal experiences of screening to reassure them and encourage them to attend. They are joined by cancer survivors, NHS staff and TV doctors in sharing letters in a number of moving films launched today. 

Women registered with a GP are automatically invited for NHS breast screening for the first time between the ages of 50 and 53, then every three years until their 71^st birthday – while women aged 71 and over can self-refer for screening. 

As part of efforts to drive uptake of breast screening, the NHS is launching a new “ping and book” service, with women already starting to get alerts to their phones via the NHS App to remind them they are due or overdue an appointment, with new functionality being developed to enable millions to book screening directly through the NHS App next year. 

Read the full news story here: NHS first breast screening campaign 2025

• The number of women attending breast screening has risen since 2020/21, with latest data for 2022/23 showing that 4.30 million women had been screened in the last three years (66.4% of those eligible). 
• Latest data on the proportion of the number of women who attend screening after being invited (uptake) shows around a third are still not attending, which increases to 46.3% of those invited for the first time.
• Last year alone, NHS breast screening services detected cancers in 18,942 women across England, which otherwise may not have been diagnosed or treated until a later stage, and the most comprehensive review to date found around 1,300 deaths are prevented each year by the breast screening programme.