Many years ago, a committed group of Lithgow locals worked hard to gain integrated health services for the area.
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The result of their work brought mammography services, CT scans, a hyrdrotheraphy pool and an aged care facility to the residents of Lithgow and surrounding areas.
The improvement in diagnostic services for a range of conditions has no doubt enhanced, and saved, the lives of many.
So it's only natural that news of any moves to wind back any of these hard fought gains is going to be met with a great deal of concern.
Today we reveal that the mammography screening service would no longer be permanent, but would be delivered on a part time basis.
The city of Lithgow and surrounding communities, Portland, Wallerawang and Rydal have every right to be worried about how this will affect the number of women getting checks.
While the managers of the service say the Lithgow mammography machine was old and in need of repair, and that it was rarely fully booked, this will be cold comfort to local women.
Breast cancer research receives enormous support from the Australian community, and rightly so.
There would not be one of us who doesn't know someone affected by the disease.
In 2013, 2892 women and 30 men died of breast cancer in Australia.
The Cancer Council says the most common types of breast cancer have a very good long-term prognosis, especially if the cancer is found early.
If the cancer is limited to the breast, 96% of patients will be alive five years after diagnosis.
If the cancer has spread to the regional lymph nodes, five year relative survival drops to 80%.
In Australia, the overall five year survival rate for breast cancer in females is 89%.
On top of the need for early detection, cancer survival rates in Australia are also linked to your postcode.
It's well documented that diagnosis, treatment and recovery can be more difficult for people living in rural and regional areas, like those served by Lithgow.
Local residents should definitely interrogate this decision more closely so that we can all be convinced this will not contribute to higher rates of breast cancer in our city.