Janine Rankin writes in the Manawatu Standard about the importance of detection and prevention of cervical cancer.
New Zealand’s ability to do so has improved recently due to more accurate smear tests which are able to test for the HPV virus at the same time, and professional are also urging young women to be vaccinated.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“For many women, given the usually slow progress of the disease, having repeat smears every three years builds a safety margin and another opportunity to get the right result.
“But Dr Temple-Camp says the reasons a woman produces a false negative result are often repeated each time, putting her at risk of undetected disease.
“Last year, refinements were added to the screening programme to make it better.”