Screening for Cervical Cancer was introduced in Australia in 1991. Since then, the incidence of Cervical Cancer and the death rate has halved.
So, Cervical Cancer Screening works, so why are only 68% of Australian women between the age of 25 – 74 years doing it?
The bottom line is, it’s not very pleasant!
Women have had to attend a doctor’s appointment, place themselves in an exposed and awkward position and then have an uncomfortable speculum placed inside their vagina to allow an adequate opening to occur so that the clinician could take a swab of their cervical cells. All for a good cause, but something none of us has ever gotten excited about. Some in our community have been unable to access the service due to geographical isolation, and others have found this type of invasive procedure, no matter its importance, to be something they could not face.
Culturally and linguistically diverse communities, aboriginal and Torres Straight Island communities, LGBTQI+ communities, women who have experienced sexual assault, and communities with disabilities represent some of these groups.
Now, there is another alternative: self-testing.
Those who have a cervix can request to do a self-test either in private at their medical clinic or ask for a kit to take home. The test involves inserting a swab, very similar to the swabs being used during COVID-19 to the PCR test, into your vagina and rotating it for 20-30 seconds; how easy is that?
The other advantage we now have is only being screened every five years instead of two. This is because the new test is not only looking for changes to the cells of the cervix but also the HPV (Human Papillomavirus), which is responsible for most cervical cancers. Detecting HPV is looking for something much earlier than changes in the cells, so we only need to be screened every five years.
If you haven’t been screened since December 2017, you are overdue, as your last screening would have been the old test, which was done every two years. Easy solution: Make an appointment at your GP’s and ask to be screened or use the do-it-yourself kit.
The self-testing kit is as accurate as the clinician collection, so choose, but do the test to keep yourself safe.