Ireland readies for cervical screening:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The Irish Cancer Society has launched a cervical testing awareness campaign, ahead of the launch in 2008 of the national screening programme. The ICS is urging women aged 25-60 who have never been tested or have not done so for three years, to request from their GP or family planning clinic that they be tested at three-year maximum intervals. Health minister Mary Harney welcomed the ICS' initiative, saying that "the advanced awareness-raising will help in the effectiveness of the national programme". The government said it is also assessing how new vaccines against human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, which promise to significantly reduce the risk of cervical cancer (see Clinica No 1212, p 13), might be used to support its public health strategy.