This article is from page 8 of the 2006-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
CLARE women have a higher than average uptake for potentially life saving smear tests, according to new figures covering the last year.
The statistics, released by the Health Service Executive on Tuesday, show that 25,343 Clare women aged between 25 and 60, were on the Irish Cervical Screening Programme at the end of December 2005.
A total of 14,458 Clare women were screened, resulting in a 57.05 per cent uptake rate in the county.
A study into the number availing of the Irish Cervical Screening Programme, being piloted in the Mid West region, has shown that almost 60 per cent of women did not respond to invitations offering the free screening between 2000 and 2004.
This week’s figures show that Clare women’s uptake rate is above the Mid West average, but 43 per cent are still not availing of the free test.
Regular cervical screening can detect cell abnormalities, which if detected and treated early, can be prevented from developing into cancer.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, this week stated that she was fully committed to the national roll out of a cervical screening programme, “in line with international best practice.”
The Health Service Executive has been requested to prepare a detailed implementation plan for a national programme, almost six years after the programme was planned as a pilot scheme in the Mid West.