Cervical Screening

Eimear Nee, the Allcare Pharmacy trainer, discusses why cervical screening is so important and what the screen looks for.

Cervical screening saves lives. Screening is one of the best ways to prevent cervical cancer.

What does the screen look for?

Cervical screening looks at the health of your cervix, which is the opening to your womb from your vagina. It looks for abnormal cervical cells which may become cancerous in the future. Cervical cancer can often be prevented. With early detection through cervical screening and treatment as necessary, the number of cases of cervical cancer and cervical cancer survival rates have improved significantly.

If you are registered with the national screening service Cervicalcheck.ie and if you attend your regular cervical screening test appointments, you are at a much lower risk of developing cervical cancer.

If any abnormalities are detected at your cervical screen, this does not normally mean that you have cancer, but you may have to have some relatively simple treatment to stop you from getting cancer. A cervical screen is not used to diagnose cancer.

At what age do I need to get the screening done?

The target group for screening is people with a cervix aged between 25–65 years who have been sexually active. This population group should attend for regular screens as invited by cervicalcheck.ie.

How do I book my screening?

If you are on the Cervical Check register, you will receive an invitation to book your screen when it is due. You can book your free screen with a GP or clinic registered with cervicalcheck.ie.

If you are not registered, you can register on the cervicalcheck.ie website here

How often do I need to get checked?

You will be called every 3 years if you are aged between 25–29 and every 5 years if you are aged between 30–65 years. It takes 10–15 years in many cases, for HPV to lead to abnormal cells and develop into cervical cancer, therefore the screening programme allows up to 5 years between cervical screening tests.

What is my sample checked for?

A small sample of cells are taken from your cervix. These are checked for certain types of HPV (human papilloma virus) which can cause changes to your cervical cells. HPV is a very common group of viruses. HPV is passed on during skin-to-skin contact, particularly sexual activity, including oral sex.

What are HPV infections?

There are over 100 types of HPV infections and most people will get some type of HPV during their life. Most HPV infections will clear completely from the body within a few years without causing any problems. You may not even know you have the infection. Certain types of ‘high risk’ HPV infections can remain dormant in the body and not cause any problems. They can become active at a later stage, for an unknown reason.

Certain ‘high risk’ HPV infections can lead to changes in the cells in your cervix and are involved in the development of cervical cancer. If ‘high risk’ HPV is found, this does not mean that you have cancer. Most people who have HPV, even ‘high risk’ HPV do not develop cervical cancer. Early detection and treatment as necessary can help to stop cervical cancer from developing. If high risk HPV is not detected, no further tests are required.

The HPV vaccine protects against some but not all types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine, which is offered to girls and boys in their first year of secondary school, when coupled with regular screening from 25 years onwards, is a good tool in helping to prevent cervical cancer from developing.

 

Speak to your Allcare pharmacist or your GP if you have any questions on cervical screening. You will find further information on cervicalcheck.ie or the HSE cervical screening information site here.