Guernsey women will be given more personalised cervical screening programmes in the future after trials elsewhere have proven successful.
Health and Social Care said it is following NHS England in introducing more accurate Human Papillomavirus testing that could see some women tested every five years, rather than three.
Cervical screening detects HPV- the types of viral infection which are the main cause of cervical cancer, and if caught early, these can be treated before they turn into cervical cancer.
Di Mathews, Strategic Screening Lead, said: “Cervical cancer is preventable and curable, and we now have the tools to make the disease a thing of the past. The cervical screening programme, together with our HPV vaccination programme and treatment, helps us move towards our goal of eliminating cervical cancer in the Bailiwick.”
From next month, women aged 25 to 49 with no recent history of HPV infection, who test negative for HPV, will be considered to be at very low risk of cervical cancer for the next 10 years.
They will be invited for screening appointments at five-year intervals rather than three as has previously been the case.
“The HPV test is an objective test which means the sample is not dependent on a person looking at cells and making a judgment and this means there are fewer missed cases. The HPV test is very good at picking up if someone has HPV and because it typically takes 10-15 years for cancer to develop after an HPV infection a five-year interval for those who are HPV negative is safe,” said Ms Mathews.
Those women whose sample indicates the presence of HPV or who have a recent history of HPV, which causes nearly all cervical cancers, will continue to be invited to more frequent screenings to check whether HPV has cleared.
Public Health said more information about cervical screening can be found HERE