Recently the Los Angeles Times reported on ‘A Change In Mammogram Guidelines’.

The question seemed simple enough: Should women in their 40s be advised to get routine mammograms in the hope of catching breast cancers while they are still small and, presumably, easier to treat? But the more an expert panel of doctors, nurses and preventive health specialists studied the data, the harder it was to come up with an answer.

Now I am sure that these experts do not stand to gain from advising against routine mammograms if there is not sufficient reason to merit it. So this begs the question:

Is the expense being undertaken locally in this sector truly justifiable especially considering that the state budget is not made of elastic funds and funds diverted to this sector with dubious results is depriving hundreds if not thousands of elderly from proper care through waiting lists, the decommissioning of Zammit Clapp specialised hospital and less funds devoted to training of geriatric health care workers?

■ G. Bonett

Marsalforn