Mr. Speaker, older Canadian women are encouraged by their doctors to get a mammogram every second year because mammography screening is the best technique we have for the early detection of breast cancer.
Good mammography requires high quality mammographic x-ray equipment, highly trained technicians and qualified radiologists to read the results.
In Canada there is a voluntary accreditation program available to those responsible for mammography units, but after five years of the voluntary program's existence only 37 per cent of these units have passed the standards.
This is not good enough. We need national standards for quality assurance in mammography. Canadian women need to know that the mammography unit they visit is accredited or certified and meets the highest possible quality assurance standards. Canadian women deserve nothing less.