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The Longevity Review Without the sales pitch
Strong

Screening Mammography

Last reviewed 25 August 2026 · Evidence-graded review — see Methodology

Offered as one of the “choose two” imaging options in most women's executive packages, which badly understates it. This is one of the few tests in the whole bundle with decades of randomised evidence and an explicit recommendation behind it, sitting in a menu next to ultrasounds that have neither.

Why it grades Strong

Nicholson WK, Silverstein M, et al. (US Preventive Services Task Force) “Screening for Breast Cancer.” JAMA 2024;331:1918–1930 gives a Grade B recommendation for biennial screening mammography in women aged 40 to 74, lowering the starting age from 50 in the previous statement. Screening mammography does carry overdiagnosis and false-positive recall, and the task force quantifies both — but unlike the tumour markers elsewhere on this page, it has been shown to reduce breast cancer mortality.

Nicholson WK, et al. JAMA. 2024. PubMed: PMID 38687503

FrequencyAnnually from 40 to 49, then every two years from 50 to 74
Cost (SGD)S$100–250 standalone; subsidised for eligible women under Singapore's Screen for Life programme
Appropriate forWomen aged 40–74

Singapore guidance

Recommended for the general population

Singapore’s national screening committee recommends mammography annually from 40 to 49, then every two years from 50 to 74.

Source: Screening Test Review Committee report 2026, Volume 1 (Academy of Medicine Singapore and Ministry of Health, February 2026), Table 1A(ii). The full national list · How this is used.

What you would actually pay

Healthier SG
Subsidised
Breast cancer screening, women 50 and above, every two years. The subsidy starts at 50; the committee recommends screening from 40, so a 40-49 year-old is recommended the test but not yet subsidised for it. If you are eligible: S$5 or less per visit at a CHAS GP clinic, including the first post-screening consultation.
MediSave
Claimable
The one screening MOH names for outpatient MediSave.

Source: Healthier SG Screening (HealthHub) and MediSave outpatient care (Ministry of Health). Absence from either list is not a statement that the test is discouraged — only that no subsidy or claim applies. Gross prices compared.

What it costs when it is wrong

Basis
Specificity
Severity
Minor

The committee reports a false-positive rate below 10% when starting at age 40, and 11.6% across all ages.

Screening harm is not only a laboratory question: the committee’s own criteria advise against a test when “the screening test, or follow-up tests arising from a positive screen, are associated with significant medical risks”. Sources on overdiagnosis → · How this is graded.

FAQ

Is the Screening Mammography worth doing in Singapore?

Judged for screening an asymptomatic adult, Screening Mammography grades strong on our rubric. It typically costs S$100–250 in Singapore. Subsidised for eligible women under Singapore's Screen for Life programme. The usual schedule: annually from 40 to 49, then every two years from 50 to 74. Most appropriate for women aged 40–74.

Weighing this against something else? Compare it with two other tests → · Price it inside a panel →