Women receiving annual smear tests may be able to return to three-yearly screening sooner thanks to a new test that’s been introduced by Cervical Screening Wales, as the programme testing for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) was extended to a further group of women from 30 November.
HPV testing was introduced into the cervical screening programme in September 2014 for women having their first follow-up smear test following treatment for abnormal cells on the cervix.
As part of the extension, the programme is now also offering testing to women already having annual follow-up smear tests within ten years of a previously identified abnormality.
Around 75 per cent of the women currently being recalled for annual smears should be able to be discharged back into the routine programme following HPV testing.
Most, but not all, women currently receiving annual smears will be eligible for the HPV test depending on the abnormality they have been diagnosed with, but should speak to their smear taker if they are unsure whether the new test is available to them.
‘We know,’ said Rachel Jones, Head of Cervical Screening Wales,’that women who test negative for HPV after having treatment for abnormal cells are very unlikely to go on to develop cervical cancer, and so it’s good news for these women that we can now test for HPV and maybe prevent them from having annual smear tests unnecessarily.’
Cervical Screening Wales offers cervical screening to women aged between 25 and 64 living in Wales. Women under the age of 50 are offered screening every three years, while women over 50 are offered screening every five years.
