There’s so much talk about the health service being “broken” these days that we sometimes overlook its many success stories. Like the astonishing triumph of NHS England’s BRCA testing programme, in which a key role was played by two Jewish charities.

BRCA refers to inherited forms of breast cancer that are passed on through faults in genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. Normally these protect against the disease, so people born with a fault on one of them have a much higher risk of developing not just breast cancer but also ovarian and some other types too.

With Ashkenazi Jews more than six times and Sephardis nearly double as likely to carry a BRCA fault compared with the population in general, NHS England decided it made sense to offer free genetic testing to anybody over 18 with at least one Jewish grandparent, in the hope of enabling them to take preventative steps. The charities Chai Cancer Care and Jnetics collaborated to form JewishBRCA.org as a partner in the campaign, tasked with raising awareness.

They proved so effective that after the official launch in January this year the system was inundated. In the first week 10,000 people expressed interest. The target is to get 30,000 women and men tested in three years. Surprisingly, 89 per cent of those testing positive so far are not aware of family history of breast cancer.

The leadership team at Chai admit to being slightly overwhelmed at the scale of response. “It is an amazing opportunity to take these tests and then there are things that you can do… one has choices,” says CEO Lisa Steele.

“What is really important, adds chairman Louise Hager, “is the potential to save lives. But we are aware of and understand the upheaval both physically and emotionally of a positive result and Chai is here before, during and after if people need support.” Adds Steele: “The hope is that eventually we will be able to get rid of the mutated BRCA gene altogether.”

Performer and choreographer Beaux Harris, 29, whose mother and grandmother died prematurely of ovarian and breast cancer respectively, tested positive herself recently. Though it felt “like someone pulled the rug from underneath my feet”, she urges anyone with Jewish heritage to get tested when they are ready. “Knowledge is power,” she says, “we’re never going to be able to keep ourselves alive unless we know. Women deserve to live long lives.”