00:00No, Switzerland hasn't banned mammograms.
00:07A whole host of social media users are falsely claiming that Switzerland has banned breast
00:12cancer screenings because they allegedly increase the risk of cancer.
00:16The misleading claims have been circulating for months and are still being shared today,
00:21with some saying that mammograms give incorrect positive results in up to 60% of cases.
00:26Some of the posts allege that the medical industry is forcing women to have frequent
00:30breast cancer screenings to make them fall ill and turn into profitable patients.
00:34But none of this is true.
00:36First of all, Switzerland hasn't banned breast cancer screenings.
00:40A spokesperson from the Federal Office of Public Health in Switzerland confirmed to
00:44EuroVerify that the country hasn't banned mammography and that they encourage screening
00:48starting from the age of 50.
00:50The claims that mammograms can increase the risk of cancer due to radiation and that 50
00:55to 60% of the positive results are incorrect are also misleading, according to experts.
01:00The answer is no, because the dose that you use for the mammogram, if they follow the
01:05strict protocols that are recommended by all agencies, the dose is low, so there is no
01:10risk that you're going to develop cancer because of the irradiation of the mammography.
01:15Studies show that only very frequent testing may slightly increase the risk of cancer,
01:20but even then the benefits of screening far outweigh the risks.
01:24Any medical intervention has some risk.
01:27Even if I take a paracetamol tablet, there is a risk of some complications.
01:32So we always look at the risk versus benefit.
01:36So the benefit of mammography, as I said, is huge.
01:40It reduces the mortality from breast cancer by 40% among those women who are regularly
01:46undergoing mammography between 50 to 70 years of age.
01:50For more information, check the full article on Euronews.com.
01:54Euronews.com
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