Report: Screening programme can end cervical cancer deaths
A national screening programme is needed to end the increasing number of deaths from cervical cancer, a new report claimed today.
A study published in the British Journal of Cancer revealed death rates in Ireland were far greater than those in any part of the United Kingdom and look set to rise unless drastic action is taken.
Health experts called for the Government to follow the example set by other European nations to combat the rising number of cancer deaths.
Harry Comber, report author and National Cancer Registry Ireland director, said there was a direct link between screening, a fall in the incidence of the disease and ultimately a drop in deaths.
“The results mirror what happened in the Nordic countries in the 1960s and 1970s, when cervical cancer death rates decreased sharply in countries that introduced screening,” Mr Comber said.
“Norway’s deaths from cervical cancer continued to increase until they introduced a screening programme.”
Over the last 30 years Iceland, Finland, Sweden and parts of Denmark have achieved almost complete coverage of target populations, resulting in sharp falls in incidence and mortality.
Researchers from Cork and Belfast studied cervical cancer death rates between 1971 and 2000 in the UK and Ireland.
The study showed the number of deaths fell substantially in the UK after screening began in 1988. In Ireland however, where nationwide screening has not begun, there has been a steady year on year increase in deaths.
Ireland has seen a rise of 1.5% in deaths from cervical cancer every year since 1978.
Researchers found since 1988 deaths from cervical cancer in England and Wales dropped by 5% each year, and by 4% each year in Scotland.
The study also pointed to a 2% drop in deaths per year in Northern Ireland.
Health experts said Ireland must follow the lead of the UK and bring in an organised population-based screening programme.
Dr Anna Gavin, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry director, also noted a rise in sexually transmitted diseases in the UK and Ireland since the 1970s.
And she said this caused a corresponding increase in cervical cancer incidence and deaths in Ireland, but not in the UK.
“These results show that the number of deaths from cervical cancer is increasing only in Ireland,” Dr Gavin said.
“It’s pretty clear that the introduction of the national screening programme stopped cases of cervical cancer and deaths increasing in the UK.”
Only 9% of the population is covered by a targeted cervical screening project in one health board area.
The free pilot screening for 25-60 year-old women in the Mid-Western Health Board invites women to attend regular screening over a five-year period.
The study suggested while deaths from cervical cancer were relatively infrequent in Ireland, 76 a year on average, 2.2% of all cancer deaths, they were largely preventable through screening.
