Australia’s breast screening program is being shelved temporarily because of the coronavirus crisis, with women being told they could wait three months or longer for screening mammograms to be rescheduled.

The move comes as all of the nation’s health screening programs are assessing operations during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists says it is following the advice of its committee on breast mammography to immediately suspend mammograms for asymptomatic women.

Screening mammograms are deemed to be a non-urgent population screening tool and elective procedure, and it is unlikely that “early disease” would progress significantly in 6-12 months, it says.