IATROGENIC RISK AND SCREENING - THE EXAMP LE OF MAMMOGRAPHY

Iatrogenic risk is a necessary component of any curative medical inter vention in medicine. By contrast, its existence is often ignored in pu blic health programmes. The example of breast cancer screening by mean s of mammography is studied here to describe the type and importance o f risks linked to the screening examination itself, but also to the en suing complementary procedures in order to evaluate the global impact on women's health in the general population. Methods for risk evaluati on and the few data available in the literature are reviewed. The aim of the present article is to ensure the respect of principles of ethic s in the health interventions directed towards populations considered a priori as being healthy, and to put the case for high quality screen ing.