Angelina Jolie had double mastectomy to reduce risk of breast cancer

                    Jolie and fiancé Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie has revealed she has had a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer.

Health campaigners praised her decision to go public with the news, which she said was prompted by a desire to encourage other women to get gene-tested and to raise awareness of the options available to those at risk.

The actor has a defective gene, BRCA1, which doctors told her had increased her risk of developing breast cancer to 87%, and her risk of ovarian cancer, the disease that killed her mother at 56 to 50%, she told the New York Times.

The surgery, which began in February, had reduced Jolie's risk of breast cancer to less than 5%, she said.

"I can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer," she wrote. "It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that's it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity."

I guess many people would follow suit but the affordability and access is another matter altogether.

Jolie and her six kids