The UK's NHS Breast Screening Programme, the first of its kind in the world, began in 1988 and achieved national coverage in the mid-1990s. It provides free breast cancer screening mammography every three years for all women in the UK aged from 50 and up to their 71st birthday. The NHS Breast Screening Programme is supporting a research study trial to assess the risks (i.e. the chances of being diagnosed and treated for a non-life-threatening cancer) and benefits (i.e. the chances of saving life) in women aged 47 to 49 and 71 to 73 (Public Health England 2017).
The Singapore national breast screening program, BreastScreen Singapore, started in 2002. It is the only publicly funded national breast screening program in Asia and enrolls women aged 50–64 for screening every two years. Like the Australian system, no clinical examination is performed routinely. Unlike most national screening systems, however, clients have to pay half of the cost of the screening mammogram; this is in line with the Singapore health system's core principle of co-payment for all health services.
Three out of twelve (3/12) breast cancer screening programs in Canada offer clinical breast examinations. All twelve offer screening mammography every two years for women aged 50–69, while nine out of twelve (9/12) offer screening mammography for women aged 40–49. In 2003, about 61% of women aged 50–69 in Canada reported having had a mammogram within the past two years.
In 2005, about 68% of all U.S. women age 40–64 had a mammogram in the past two years (75% of women with private health insurance, 56% of women with Medicaid insurance, 38% of currently uninsured women, and 33% of women uninsured for more than 12 months). All U.S. states except Utah require private health insurance plans and Medicaid to pay for breast cancer screening. As of 1998, Medicare (available to those aged 65 or older or who have been on Social Security Disability Insurance for over 2 years) pays for annual screening mammography in women aged 40 or older.
In March 2022, the European Commission's Scientific Advice Mechanism recommended extending screening to women in their mid-40s.