Luxembourg: Breast cancer screening reaches more than four in five women in Denmark but only about one in four in Hungary, according to Eurostat figures for 2024 that Eunews highlighted on 23 October 2026. Eurostat counts women aged 50 to 69 who had a mammogram in the previous two years. The result shows how unevenly Europeans receive care during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Breast cancer screening rates put Denmark in front with 82.1%, followed by Sweden at 82.0%, Finland at 81.6%, Slovenia at 77.8% and Ireland at 71.2%. At the other end, Hungary records 27.2%, Cyprus 29.2%, Poland 33.8%, Latvia 38.2% and Austria 41.3%. The gap between Denmark and Hungary stands at almost 55 percentage points.

Trends in breast cancer screening since 2019 give a mixed picture. Participation rose in nine countries, led by Slovakia with 12.5 percentage points, Croatia with 10.0 and Estonia with 9.9. It stayed unchanged in Sweden and Finland, yet it fell in 11 countries, from 0.4 points in Ireland to 21.8 points in Malta.

Equipment alone does not explain the divide. Greece has 7.6 mammography units per 100,000 inhabitants, Cyprus 6.9 and Italy 3.7, while Poland, Czechia, Sweden and Romania each have 1.1. Cyprus combines one of the densest networks with the second-lowest screening rate, which suggests that invitations, awareness and access matter as much as machines.

The EU set a clear goal. On 9 December 2022, the Council adopted a recommendation that asks member states to offer breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening to 90% of eligible residents by 2025, as the Commission press release explains. For breast cancer screening, the text recommends mammography for women aged 50 to 69 and suggests extending it to ages 45 to 74.

The comparison needs care. The Council target counts women who receive an offer, while Eurostat counts women who actually had a mammogram, so the two measures do not match like for like. Even so, a 27.2% result in Hungary suggests the 2025 ambition remains far away in several capitals.

The Commission has backed breast cancer screening with money. It committed €38.5 million under EU4Health and €60 million under Horizon Europe, and it added a further €38.5 million in the 2023 EU4Health work programme. Eunews also tells the story of Miriam Bruni, who received her first diagnosis before age 35, below the usual age for routine invitations, and later learned she carries the BRCA1 mutation.

Her case shows that age bands cannot protect everyone. For health ministers, the Eurostat numbers make a simple point: breast cancer screening in the EU still depends heavily on where a woman lives, and closing a 55-point gap will take more than a recommendation.