Thank you. Meegwetch. Merci.
I'm joining you today from the traditional and ancestral territory of the Lheidli T'enneh peoples, Prince George, British Columbia.
I am a cancer surgeon and professor at UBC. I join you today as an indigenous woman, daughter, mother, sister, auntie, cousin and member of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation.
In the field of breast cancer, I work with many hats. I strongly recommend that we move or return breast cancer screening guidelines to commence at the age of 40, as opposed to the current age of 50.
The current guidelines in B.C. state that screening mammography is available to women in their 40s and recommend that women at “average risk” start screening mammograms at the age of 50.
There is a distinct difference between a service being available and a service being recommended. These guidelines, current and previous, have never—