No breast cancer screening invitation for Brussels women due to absence new government
No women in Brussels have yet been invited for a mammogram in 2025, reported the magazines “Medi-Sphere” and “Le Spécialiste” on Wednesday. In the absence of a fully-fledged new Brussels government, funding for the breast cancer screening programme has been temporarily frozen.
Ten months after the elections, the political vacuum in Brussels is starting to have an impact on public health. The organisation Bruprev, which is responsible for the coordination of screening campaigns in the Brussels-Capital Region, has not been able to send any invitations in the first quarter of 2025. Normally, Brussels women aged between 50 and 69 should receive an invitation for a mammogram every two years.
"It's frustrating that more than three months have already been lost due to political procrastination"
Julie Soens, a radiologist at the Brussels Clinic Saint-Jean, denounced the situation. "The aim of the screenings every two years is to detect the smallest possible lesions at an early stage, so it's frustrating that more than three months have already been lost due to political procrastination," she declared. She called on politicians to take their responsibility.
Minority government option
Because the PS does not want to govern with and the Open VLD does not want to govern without N-VA, the Brussels government formation is still deadlocked after more than 300 days. MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez is currently working on the option of a minority government: a cabinet that does not have a majority in parliament if you add up all the MPs of the governing parties.
That proposed Brussels minority government would surely consist of MR, Les Engagés, Groen, N-VA, Open VLD and Vooruit. However, this solution still requires outside support. And the French-speaking parties PS, Ecolo and Défi are currently unwilling to offer that.
Illustration © BELGA PHOTO AMELIE-BENOIST / IMAGE POINT FR / BSIP via AFP
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