Women over 70 missing out on cervical cancer screening: pathologists
GPs are urged to opportunistically offer HPV tests, including self-collection, to women aged up to 74
Cervical screening experts are concerned many women in their early 70s — and some of their doctors — remain unaware they are eligible for HPV screening.
Leading pathologist Adjunct Professor Annabelle Farnsworth says women aged 70-74 were brought into the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) when HPV became the primary test in 2017.
But the most recent monitoring report shows only 27% of women in this age group were screened during the first three years of the program.
Data for cervical cancer deaths in 2019 shows the highest mortality rate was in women aged 70-74, at 4 per 100,000 women.
