Bill guarantees mammography through SUS from age 40

The measure proposed by deputy Rosana Valle advances in the Chamber and goes to the federal Senate for analysis

The bill (PL) 184/2025, which establishes the performance of mammography by the Unified Health System (SUS) for women over the age of 40, was approved in a session of the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia-DF. The proposal, signed by the federal deputy Rosana Valle (PL-SP), modifies the Union’s previous indications, which recommended preventive examinations only for women aged 50 or over. The text now goes to the federal Senate for deliberation.

The bill, in the works since February, aims to lower the minimum age for women to access the imaging procedure, which has the ability to identify breast cancer in its early stages. Early diagnosis is a factor that allows the appropriate treatment to be started as quickly as possible. The article provides that the visit is carried out annually and free of charge, unless otherwise medically indicated.

Representative Rosana Valle, in her second term and president of the State Executive of PL Mulher de São Paulo, underlined that the approval represents progress for public policies aimed at women’s health. The parliamentarian defended the need for the SUS to guarantee access to preventive tests, arguing that the expansion of the age range by the Union is not reasonable, considering the time needed for the disease to develop and the potential worsening of the diagnosis. The congresswoman argued that the country must speed up the processes, make free examination universal and, therefore, increase the chances of recovery.

Changing the minimum age for mammography to 40 is based on scientific evidence and is approved by specialized institutions. The Brazilian Society of Mastology (SBM), for example, has recommended imaging screening for this age group since 2008.

According to the parliamentarian, the SBM indicates that approximately 40% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women between 40 and 50 years old. The congresswoman argued that the age group with the highest incidence of the disease has seen a reduction and that the SUS must update to offer conditions that help reduce the lethality of breast cancer in Brazil.

In a recent development, the Ministry of Health had already reduced the minimum age range for mammography to 40 years, through a decree the previous month. But the Rosana Valle bill, if approved by the Senate and sanctioned by the Presidency of the Republic, will transform the provision into federal law. The deputy underlined that decrees are fragile instruments, whose effects can be canceled by subsequent decisions. The conversion of the provision into law aims to guarantee that mammography from the age of 40 is a permanent right and is applied throughout the national territory, without the possibility of revocation.

Source: Terra

Rose

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