The government’s cancer screening programmes are very effective, a new report covering the last 25 years shows.

The report, put together by research company Panteia from earlier evaluations, will be presented to parliament by health minister Edith Schippers on Tuesday.

According to Panteia’s research, screening has reduced the number of women dying from breast cancer by 30%. Deaths from cervical cancer have halved.

Panteia also looked at other government-run prevention programmes, such as vaccinations for young children. Nearly all these programmes are ‘effective’ and ‘appropriate’, the researchers say.

However, there is criticism of the government’s response to the outbreak of Q-fever during the outbreak of 2012. There was a ‘shortfall in the protection of the public interest’, including ‘insufficient counterweight to the interests of the farming sector’, the report said.

The report also criticises the slowness of the government in introducing new screening programmes and new vaccines.