RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CERVICAL SCREENING 1997

The Ministry of Health and the Cancer Society of New Zealand invited a working group to review the 1991 recommendations on cervical screenin g.(1) No major changes have been suggested but minor modifications hav e been made with regard to recent literature. All women who have ever had intercourse should be offered a three yearly cervical smear test f rom age 20 to age 69, If it is a woman's first smear or there is a gap of five or more years since her last one, the second smear should be taken in one year's time. Women who have had a hysterectomy for a beni gn condition, with complete removal of histologically normal cervical epithelium and a normal smear history, do not require further screenin g, Women who are immunocompromised may require more frequent screening , The cervical smear will be part of the investigation of women with s igns and symptoms of cervical cancer. It is not sufficiently sensitive , however, for a negative result to override clinical concern. Such wo men should be referred for gynaecological assessment irrespective of t he smear result.