The taking of a young life is an unspeakable waste.

A fearful tragedy because her fate instils fear in the hearts of many women who don't know whether or not a similar fate awaits them.

The sad reality is there are too many Belinda Emmetts out there.

We know about Belinda because of her profile.

There are others we don't know about who suffer in silence and anonymity, yet at a similarly young age, and, of course, older, face the crippling news that their life has been stood on its head and put in the balance.

To be fair, survival rates are improving.

88 per cent of women in New South Wales are now alive five years after being diagnosed.

So breast screening and early detection have caused an improvement.

The Cancer Institute chief Professor Jim Bishop says poor childhood diet and a bad lifestyle as an adult significantly increase breast cancer risk.

That having children late in life, not breast feeding and binge drinking increase the risk of breast cancer.

But there are so many young women to whom none of those rules apply.

And many of them are high profile from Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue, to Belinda.

Kylie is back putting together an extraordinary concert performance.

So the good news is that diagnosis need not prove fatal.

But there are other variables.

The publicity following the detection of Kylie Minogue's breast cancer raised certain alarms, simply because of her age.

And many ask why women in their twenties are struck down.

Belinda Emmett was diagnosed at 24.

It is said that X-ray screening or mammography to detect breast cancer doesn't always work in younger women under the age of 40.

Apparently that's because younger women have breast tissue that's more dense, making it more difficult to distinguish cancerous tissue on an X-ray.

For younger women, I believe, ultrasound is more effective in distinguishing healthy tissue from abnormal tissue.

But I wonder if young women know that, and I wonder does their doctor know that.

Then there have been concerns expressed about the BreastScreen programme.

The national screening policy says that a free screening service is available to women aged 40 to 49 on request.

It's not just women who don't quite know what that means.

Does it mean that women are being turned away?

And if so, for what reason?

We should know if there are women trying to get a mammogram through BreastScreen who can't.

BreastScreen seems to be saying that all women from the age of 40 are eligible for a free mammogram.

But are given a lesser priority than the target 50 to 69 year old group.

But the tragic passing of Belinda Emmett asks other questions that have to be answered.

Why are women so young being diagnosed with breast cancer often in an advanced state?

Almost 12,000 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

2,600 will die.

Belinda spent eight years with what she described as "the terrifying prospect of dying young".

She was courageous in the face of all this adversity.

And she sent a gentle and brave message to other young women suffering similarly.

There was a dignity about her dying which overwhelms us.

But if it's true that breast cancer in young women is often more aggressive and if it's true that because it's hormonally driven the prognosis is often worse, surely we're going to have to increase the instruments of detection.

Much is said about breast cancer.

We have programmes like breast cancer awareness.

And free mammograms.

But if as I said mammography isn't the best detector of cancer in younger women then young women should be told this.

And if ultrasound is more effective in distinguishing the abnormal tissue, then should there be an ultrasound campaign available to younger women so that they can better identify the level of risk they face.

The tragedy of the passing of Belinda Emmett is a tragedy faced by many families.

Belinda is but one we now know about.

The efforts that we make in the fighting of breast cancer need to be redoubled.

A new focus must be placed on how we can prevent young women from facing the tragedy endured by Belinda Emmett.

It goes without saying that our thoughts are with her family, her husband and all her friends.

A death of this kind diminishes us all.