Cervical cancer screening in Sweden

Organised cervical cancer screening was implemented in Sweden in the mid-19 60s. A marked decline in cervical cancer incidence could be attributed to t he time-point of start of screening. Squamous cell carcinoma has declined b y 60%, whereas adenocarcinoma has increased. About 950000 papanicolaou (Pap ) smears are taken annually. Only 31% of the smears taken in the organised screening programme. As of 1998, the screening guidelines are 3-yearly test s between 23 and 50 years of age and 5-yearly tests between 50 and 60 yt al s of age. The article reviews the screening practise in Sweden, the current efforts to improve the quality of the screening programme. as well as: the ongoing randomised evaluations of organised primary screening for cervical human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.