Under this programme, all women aged 50-69 years are invited to take part in a mammography screening every other year. The purpose is to discover tumours at an early enough stage to be able to provide effective treatment and thereby reduce mortality. The Screening Programme was established as a pilot project in four counties in 1995-96 and became nationwide in 2004.

The objective of the research-based evaluation is to investigate whether the National Mammography Screening Programme has fulfilled its intentions and purpose. Special focus will be placed on whether the Screening Programme has attained its primary target of achieving a 30 per cent reduction in breast cancer-related mortality among women asked to take part in the screening. A document explaining the objectives and framework has been drawn up to clarify the purpose of the evaluation and specify the research topics to be addressed