Sunshine Coast Women missing out on Screening

A lack of time and not prioritising their own wellbeing are two of the major barriers women face in looking after their health. BreastScreen Sunshine Coast supports International Women’s Day and its mission to assist women to make informed decisions about their health.

On the Sunshine Coast, almost half of women over the age of 50 are not having a breast screen every two years as recommended by doctors. BreastScreen Queensland Health Promotion Officer Gillian Duffy is urging women to put themselves first and book in for a screen. these improvements are not currently included in Council’s 10 year Capital Works Program, the plan will assist with seeking funding to develop the park”.

“We have six services across the Coast and the mobile service will be conveniently located in Nambour Mill Shopping Village in March. We have early, late and Saturday appointments to make it easier for working women, and the service is free,” Ms Duffy said.

BreastScreen Queensland is calling on all women to make their health a priority this International Women’s Day and those aged 40 years and over to book a breast screen appointment. No doctor’s referral is needed and appointments take less than 30 minutes.

“If you are female and over 40, take advantage of our fast, free and friendly service. It could save your life,” Ms Duffy said.

Division 1 Councillor Rick Baberowski acknowledged the issue could have been better explained in the update.

“The 10-year capital works program is directed at existing asset renewals and as the Peachester Park is new it will progressively make its way onto the 10-year program as assets are added,” Cr Baberowski explained, apologising for unintentionally alarming the community.

“I would want to see the fencing delivered in 2023 and perhaps subject to the budget discussions be confident that the seating node/s are in the pipeline shortly after that.

“It is a genuinely tough funding environment, with all sorts of very real cost escalations across the board, but we all want to see this much-loved, great new nature play park become more developed and therefor even more used.”

According to Cr Baberowski, plans have been in the works for some time on the construction of pathways and fencing surrounding the park, which he confirmed is seen as the top priority. With budget workshops coming up, he said he would be looking for support for funding, starting with the fencing. “Staff are confident that now they have a development plan they can watch out for funding opportunities and state grants,” he explained. “And that could mean we come back to the community with some further options, which would be great.”

However, the Peachester community is cautious in getting their hopes ups about inclusion in the next budget, with a lack