It’s a frightening statistic that far too many women in Nova Scotia are aware of: One in eight will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. But now the Nova Scotia health care system is aiming to give women new and potentially life-saving information on their breast health with every mammogram report. Women in the province will now be able to learn whether they have dense breasts with the results of their mammogram as part of the Nova Scotia Breast Screening Program.

Nova Scotia has become the first province to provide breast density results to all women who undergo a mammogram, using a new technology pioneered in-house. The standardized changes are effective immediately, with the new Densitas breast density assessment software already installed in screening centres across Nova Scotia.

Information about breast density is an important part of breast cancer screening and ensuring early detection and treatment. That is why it will now be automatically included in a woman’s screening mammography report. Nova Scotia is the first province in Canada to use a software that assesses breast density and automatically shares results.

Until a few weeks ago, Brenda, 52, only had two mammograms — once when she turned 40 and again when she turned 50. Both came back clear.

‘We did include it in out platform and it is our intention to roll out this initiative’

But Jennie Dale explains more women need to be actively informed if their mammograms detect high density. Public awareness about how women’s breast density can affect their health has significantly improved over the last year, but there’s still much work to be done, says Jennie Dale.

Despite some gains, the fight to raise awareness was dealt a recent major blow, advocates say.Before the September provincial election, Quispamsis resident Kathy Kaufield started an online campaign in hopes party leaders would pledge to ensure New Brunswick women are informed about their breast density and the associated cancer risks.

Are you dense? It sounds offensive, but it’s a question Canadians need to be asking, say advocates of a growing awareness campaign about breast density and its relation to increased cancer risk.

A letter from 130 experts on breast cancer says new screening guidelines proposed by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care are outdated and “dangerous.”