GE Healthcare to Supply Full Field Digital Mammography Units (FFDM) to Breastcheck in Ireland, One of the First Countries in Europe to Go Digital

GE Healthcare, world leader in digital mammography technology
today announces supplying Full Field Digital Mammography (FFDM) units
to BreastCheck - part of the Irish National Cancer Screening Service.
Ireland to become, one of the first countries in Europe to entirely
use digital mammography for breast screening services provided by
BreastCheck. Out of a total of 29 digital mammography systems
installed across the country, 13 GE Healthcare Senographe(TM)
Essential full-field digital mammography (FFDM) units will be
installed, with 6 of the 13 systems being mobile units.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the
world and more than 1.3 million people annually are diagnosed with
breast cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Industry
experts believe that the five-year survival rate in cases of early
detection of breast cancer is 97 percent.

According to the National Cancer Registry Office Ireland, the most
common cancer in women is breast cancer, which accounts for 28% of all
cancers in Ireland. Breast cancer is particularly virulent and 18.5%
of all cancer related deaths in women in Ireland are due to breast
cancer.

For Ireland, GE Healthcare's advanced mammography technology will
mean a shift in the reach of medical care allowing doctors to increase
patient workflow, take medical care to patients in even the most
remote areas of Ireland. The main objective is to increase the
attendance rate of women invited for screening in order to improve
early detection of breast cancer.

Since 1965, GE Healthcare has been a leader in the field of
mammography and worldwide more than 2,200 systems have been installed.
Last year GE introduced the Senographe(TM) Essential making this the
third generation of digital systems since 1999, with a recent 200th
install. The Senographe Essential has a large field of view which
means it can accommodate a great diversity of breast shapes and sizes.
Large breasts can now be imaged in one view thereby increasing speed
of examination and better patient comfort.

It is estimated that more than 25 million women and breast cancer
patients come across GE Healthcare technologies, based on the number
of systems installed and products used around the world

"At GE Healthcare our vision of 'early health' and our advanced
technologies allow us to support clinicians around the world to
diagnose disease quicker, with more detail, increased image quality,
and at an earlier stage. As such, our Senographe Essential system
allows a woman go through her screening mammogram, diagnostic
work-ups, and a biopsy, if needed, all on the same system." said David
Caumartin, General Manager, Global Mammography, GE Healthcare.

"We are very pleased to work with GE Healthcare as a supplier of
the latest mammography technologies. Aside from its proven high image
quality, the reduced time required by our radiographers to carry out
the mammogram and review the images was also a considerable advantage
when choosing the Senographe Essential. The robustness of GE
Healthcare's mobile unit was also something put to the test for
vibrations impact during 8000 km across Ireland and the UK.
Radiographers concluded positively on the digital equipment and
workflow in the new mobile environment," said Niall Phelan, Chief
Physicist, BreastCheck.

According to the OECD(1), 75% of patients diagnosed with breast
cancer at Stage 0 are said to have close to 100% survival rate, while
at Stage 4 the survival rates drop between 20% to 40%. In addition,
treatment cost is six times more when diagnosis is made at Stage 4
than at Stage 0. As such, these statistics clearly show how critically
important it is to have breast cancer detected earlier, not only due
to financial savings but also due to greater longevity of women.

"We are confident that our 6 GE mobile units will assist us in
bringing the screening service to women across a wider geographical
area as our breast screening programme expands nationwide" added
Phelan.

"As we continue our advancements in the fight against breast
cancer we are very proud to contribute through our advanced medical
technologies to screening programmes such as the one in Ireland.
Serving as a cornerstone for the future of digital mammography, the
Senographe Essential's ergonomics and industry-unique capabilities are
proving beneficial and convenient to radiologists. GE Healthcare's
Senographe Essential mobile unit will also aim to optimize doctors'
utilization by bringing required services to the demand of diverse
populations and to remote areas" added Caumartin.

(1) http://www.oecd.org

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and
services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in
medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics,
patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery,
and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians
around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform,
treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the
fullest.

GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable
healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart
disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our
vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care
focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and
disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare
is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE).
Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to
serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100
countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website
at www.gehealthcare.com

ABOUT BREASTCHECK

BreastCheck, The National Breast Screening Programme is an Irish
government funded mammography screening service. It aims to provide an
effective breast screening service to the highest possible quality, so
that the maximum number of breast cancers can be detected at the
earliest possible stage. BreastCheck aims to reduce the number of
deaths from breast cancer in Ireland amongst women aged 50 - 64.

BreastCheck provides a free breast screening service to eligible
women by personal invitation every two years. The programme screens
systematically on an area-by-area basis in each service area
reflecting electoral divisions. BreastCheck works with a
multi-disciplinary team approach to the screening of women involving
specialist clinicians, radiographers and breast care nurses. The
service includes mammography, diagnosis and primary treatment.

BreastCheck currently provides screening to women in the
northeast, east, midlands and parts of the south east of the country
through two static units (the Eccles Screening Unit adjacent to the
Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and the Merrion Screening Unit
adjacent to St.Vincent's University Hospital) and a fleet of mobile
units. In 2005 78,945 women were invited for screening by BreastCheck
and 59,443 women attended appointments.

BreastCheck is expanding the service nationally to offer screening
to all eligible women throughout the southern and western regions of
the Ireland. The screening programme will be extended nationwide and
the target date for commencement of expansion programme is by the end
of autumn 2007.

A Southern screening unit is being built in Cork, on the campus of
South Infirmary Victoria Hospital and a Western screening unit will be
located on the campus of University College Hospital, Galway. These
units, together with a fleet of mobile units will provide screening to
the rest of the country.

Following national expansion of the breast screening programme in
Ireland the upper age limit will be extended to women aged 69, in
accordance with the European Councils recommendation.