This article is from page 4 of the 2006-02-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
A WORRYINGLY high number of women in the Mid West are still not availing of the Irish Cervical Screening Programme being piloted in the region.
According to the latest figures, almost 60 per cent of women did not respond to invitations offering free screening as part of the programme aimed at 25 to 60 year olds.
A total of 27 per cent of women had a smear taken some time during the six months following the issuing of the invitation letter. A further 13.6 per cent did not have a smear taken for a number of reasons, including reports of the woman having a hysterectomy, or having a smear prior to the letter being issued.
According to the figures 103,022 invitation letters and reminders were sent to 36,542 women in the Mid West including Clare from October 2000 to December 2004.
Of the 78,769 smears taken, the slides of 369 smears were either damaged or broken.
Some 83 per cent of smears were found to be normal, while around 10 per cent were inadequate and required repeating the test.
Two per cent were “abnormal” and required further examination of the patient.
The Government is now coming under pressure to roll out the pilot programme, which encourages young women to avail of free cervical screening at five-yearly intervals, to women in the rest of the country.
Cervical cancer affects the cells lining the neck of the womb and is most commonly found in the 40-60 age group, so the programme targets women aged 25 – 60 years.
The Health Service Executive Mid West Region is encouraging women to avail of the free test, which could save their lives.
Regular cervical screening can detect cell abnormalities, which if detected and treated early, can be prevented from developing into cancer.
A cervical smear is a screening test done to look for early changes in the cells of the cervix – neck of the womb, which if not found and treated could become cancer cells.
The earlier a change is found the easier it is to treat.