Health Minister Tom Osborne says the provincial health authority is working on a plan to deal with changes to breast cancer screening practices.

Earlier this week government announced that the recommended age for screening was being lowered from age 50 to 40.

That means people in that age group can self-refer to be tested, whereas before they would have needed a doctor to recommend it.

Government expects the change to result in some 24,000 more people becoming eligible for the provincial breast screening program.

Osborne says NL Health Services is developing a plan to deal with the increase in demand.

“We do anticipate the plan in the coming days, and I say that because we expect it not in the coming weeks but in the coming days,” he said, “at which point we’ll be able to give a clearer understanding of when we’ll be able to roll out the self-referral at age 40.”