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Age change for cervical screening - Expert reaction
Age change for cervical screening - Expert
reaction
14 September 2016
From
2018, women will begin cervical screening at age 25 –
instead of 20 – based on evidence that suggests screening
younger women does more harm than good.
The Ministry of Health announced the change today, with clinical director of the National Screening Unit Dr Jane O’Hallahan saying the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes more than 90 per cent of cervical cancers in younger women.
Associate Professor Merilyn Hibma, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, comments:
“The HPV vaccine protects against the two major cancer-causing virus types – 16 and 18. Vaccination should be administered prior to sexual activity, and works best in younger women. The vaccine is very effective, but women who are not vaccinated are still at risk of infection with the virus, and some of those women may then develop cellular changes that may lead to cancer.
“Commencing screening at 25 does reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment in young women. An effective screening programme to prevent cervical cancer requires participation so that cellular changes that might lead to cancer can be detected as early as possible. With good participation in screening by women, this change in age of commencement of screening will not reduce the effectiveness of the screening programme in New Zealand.”
Note
The Science
Media Centre (NZ) is an independent source of expert comment
and information for journalists covering science and
technology in New Zealand. Our aim is to promote accurate,
evidence-based reporting on science and technology by
helping the media work more closely with the scientific
community. The SMC (NZ) is an independent centre established
by the Royal Society of New Zealand with funding from the
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The views
expressed in this Science Alert are those of the individuals
and organisations indicated and do not reflect the views of
the SMC or its
employees.
Science Media Centre NZ
Our aim is to promote accurate, evidence-based reporting on science and technology by helping the media work more closely with the scientific community.
The Science Media Centre is New Zealand's only trusted, independent source of information for the media on all issues related to science. Thousands of news stories providing context from and quoting New Zealand researchers have been published as a direct result of our work.
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