Guernsey cervical screening invites to change

Invitations for cervical screening will be sent out every five years instead of every three for women aged 25 to 49 in Guernsey if they have a negative Human Papillomavirus (HPV) test.

It is in line with NHS England, which is also introducing the change from 1 July.

The HPV infection can cause changes to cells in the cervix, and leads to almost all of the main types of cervical cancer.

Guernsey Public Health said it wanted to eliminate cervical cancer on the island by 2030, a decade ahead of NHS England's national target.

Currently cervical screenings are offered to all women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 65.

At the moment people are automatically invited every three years if aged 25 to 49 and every five years if aged 50 to 65.

A recent study showed that screening every five years is as safe as doing it every three years, as the same number of cancers are found and fewer screening tests are needed.

"Cervical cancer is preventable and curable, and we now have the tools to make the disease a thing of the past," said Di Mathews, strategic screening lead.

"The reason we have decided to follow England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland with this change is because the new test used in cervical screening picks up problems earlier than the older screening test that was previously used by the programme.

"Women and people with a cervix who test negative for HPV are very low risk and those who have a recent history of HPV will be invited more frequently."

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