‘Cervical cancer campaign needs to be picked up’

IMPLEMENTING the European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening must be made a public health priority, experts said yesterday.

In Cyprus, 40 women are already diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and every day of delay in the implementation of these medical practice standards means that more women will die needlessly, said Dr Pavlos Neophytou, chairman of the Mendel Centre for Biomedical Sciences.

Neophytou was speaking to reporters at news conference in light of the start of European Cervical Cancer Prevention week on January 18.

He urged all women aged 25 to 65 to undergo an HPV DNA test every three years, while girls aged 10 to 13 should have the HPV vaccine.

A human papillomavirus (HPV) test is done to find a high-risk HPV infection in women. Like a Pap test, an HPV test is done on a sample of cells collected from the cervix. It checks for the genetic material of the sexually transmitted disease and will identify whether a high-risk type of HPV is present.

Neophytou said HPV DNA tests could be carried out at any clinical laboratory.

“This test offers greater protection from cervical cancer compared to the Pap test,” he said.

During the local awareness campaign, which started yesterday and ends on February 12, gynaecologists and clinical laboratories will offer HPV DNA tests at a discount.

Low risk HPV DNA screening tests will cost €100 and a full test for women with a history of genital warts or intraepithelial neoplasia will cost €130.

Neophytou said all women who took pat in the campaign would get a free Sofia pearl, which was gold pin and pearl representing the international symbol for prevention against cervical cancer.

The pin is available for €10 from the Mendel Centre, gynaecologists and clinical laboratories taking part in the campaign.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.