Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
![A radiologist checks mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles on May 6, 2010. (AP)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/AP19086633540501/18a8886fb3bc8cfcb8ddd6bd2dadba31.jpg)
![A radiologist checks mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles on May 6, 2010. (AP)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/AP19086633540501/6827341f87c807124d6f7e8f282ca22e.jpg)
A radiologist checks mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles on May 6, 2010. (AP)
No, Switzerland didn’t ban mammograms
If Your Time is short
-
Mammography is not banned in Switzerland, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. It’s covered by health insurance and recommended for women ages 40 to 75.
-
Breast cancer screening programs are available in 14 out of the 26 Swiss cantons, or states.
Swiss cheese has holes. So does the claim that Switzerland banned mammograms.
"Congratulations to Switzerland for having enough big balls to ban mammograms," an Instagram user said in a video posted July 10.
Similar claims circulated on TikTok. Another July 10 video featured a clip from "The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast," in which a guest said, "I feel like it was Switzerland, or there’s some European country that actually doesn’t recommend [mammograms]."
Swiss health authorities say that’s not true.
"Mammography is not banned at all in Switzerland," Daniel Dauwalder, a spokesperson from Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health, told PolitiFact in an email. "It is covered by health insurance and is recommended for women at age 40-59 yearly and from age 60-75 every two years."
Breast cancer screening programs are available in 14 out of the 26 Swiss cantons, or states, according to a map published by Swiss Cancer Screening, an organization that promotes early cancer detection. Four more cantons are in the process of implementing such programs.
The claim that Switzerland banned mammograms may have originated from a 2014 report by the Swiss Medical Board that called into question the efficacy of breast cancer screening programs and suggested abolishing them. However, Swiss experts and organizations labeled the report flawed and misleading. The Swiss Medical Board, established in 2009 by the Swiss government, evaluated the costs and benefits of medical treatments to improve care and resource efficiency in Switzerland but ceased operations in 2022 due to overlapping federal efforts.
Featured Fact-check
The social media posts also said mammography poses dangerous health risks such as radiation exposure.
But according to the National Cancer Institute, mammograms involve very small doses of radiation, and "the potential benefits of mammography nearly always outweigh the potential harm from the radiation exposure."
Experts told PolitiFact last year that although mammograms have drawbacks such as false positives, they’re still a safe and effective cancer screening method. Mammograms can detect breast cancer in its early stages, when the prognosis is often better.
The Instagram post also promoted thermography — a test that uses an infrared camera to detect temperature differences within breast tissue — as an alternative to mammography.
In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was "not aware of any scientific evidence" to support the claim that thermography is a proven alternative to mammography.
The FDA approved thermography as a diagnostic tool to be used alongside primary screening tests such as mammograms. But it warned that people who rely solely on thermography "may miss the chance to detect breast cancer at its earliest stage."
Mammograms remain safe and effective cancer screening tools, and they’re still widely available in Switzerland. Additionally, U.S. experts and organizations, including the American Cancer Society, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, all recommend mammograms for breast cancer screening.
We rate the social media claims False.
Our Sources
Instagram video, July 10, 2024
TikTok video, July 10, 2024
"The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast," How to manage your hyealth & use holistic health practices Ft. Veronica Max, July 10, 2024
Swiss Cancer Screening, early detection cancer screenings map, accessed July 16, 2024
The New England Journal of Medicine, Abolishing Mammography Screening Programs? A View from the Swiss Medical Board, May 22, 2014
Swiss Medical Weekly, Controversies in the mammography screening programme in Switzerland, April 20, 2014
National Cancer Institute, Mammograms, accessed July 16, 2024
PolitiFact, Experts, medical groups still recommend mammograms as a screening test for breast cancer, July 17, 2023
Food and Drug Administration, Breast Cancer Screening: Thermogram No Substitute for Mammogram, Jan. 13, 2021
Email interview with Daniel Dauwalder, spokesperson for Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health, July 16, 2024
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Mia Penner
No, Switzerland didn’t ban mammograms
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.