Introduction
cancer, cancers
CANCER, CANCERS
Screening programmes for different cancers are implemented in many developed countries. They have intended benefits including reduction in mortality and morbidity plus less radical treatments.It is understandable that health authorities would actively use influences to maximize potential benefits of cancer screening programmes, but by defining participation as ‘the right choice’ for all, the health authorities’ interest conflicts with the interest of the individual citizens. Not all citizens will share the same assessment of the benefits/harms as the health authorities. And even if they agree with the health authorities that the benefits outweigh the harms on a population level, they may still not wish to participate because they on an individual level might receive more harm than benefit—current evidence suggests that the more informed citizens are less likely to participate in cancer screening.A scoping review from 2019 identified influences intended to increase participation that appeared in invitations to cancer screening programmes and constructed five categories of these influencesPrevious studies have found a considerable increase in both the intention to participate in screening programmes (relative risk reductions