CERVICAL MASS-SCREENING IN NORWAY - 510,000 SMEARS A YEAR

In 1990 the Norwegian Department of Health and Social Affairs decided to start a national screening program for cervical cancer. All women a ged 25 to 70 years are offered cervical screening every 3 years. The m ass screening is organized and run by a central unit, comprising the C ancer Registry of Norway and the National Health Screening Service. Fo r the first 3 years, all spontaneous cervical screening in Norway is r ecorded in a central, computerized register. In addition, a pilot proj ect has been implemented in two counties to evaluate the organizationa l aspects of the screening program. A total of 509,641 cervical smears were recorded during the first year of registration. The test frequen cy was highest in the age group 20 to 29 years (28.4%), while relative ly few tests were performed on women in the age group 60 to 69 years ( 6.6%). The majority of smears (88.6%) had normal tissue morphology, wh ereas 2.9% displayed different cytological abnormalities. Human papill omavirus (HPV) changes and mild (CIN 1) and moderate (CIN 2) dysplasia had the highest smear late in women under 40 years. Malignant cellula r changes had the highest rate in older age groups. The imbalance in t he age distribution of smears and the confinement of cytological abnor malities to the youngest and the oldest age groups support the wide ta rget age range of the screening program.