Screening age stays put after Goody review

Thursday June 25th, 2009

The British government has rejected calls to cut the age at which women are screened for cervical cancer following the death of reality TV star Jade Goody.

Ministers instead pledged to run a campaign to raise awareness of the disease and help doctors and nurses to spot the symptoms.

The government said it was acting on the advice of the advisory committee on cervical screening. As part of the project, women who develop the disease will have their medical records studied to see if symptoms could have been spotted earlier.

The experts warned that screening before the age of 25 would mean too many women undergoing unnecessary treatment.

Professor Henry Kitchener, chairman of the committee, said: "This decision was taken because scientific evidence shows that screening women in this age group can do more harm than good.

"However we are concerned that young women with gynaecological symptoms are not always being given the right advice from their GPs and we will ask the Department of Health to take action."

Health minister Ann Keen said: "In the past few months I have met with a number of young women who have cervical cancer. I have listened carefully and I am determined to make sure that our policy is in their best interests.

"There has been a big public debate about this issue and a great deal of publicity about the causes and symptoms of cervical cancer. Together we can build on this work to help even more women across the country to take steps to prevent the disease and to identify symptoms early and save lives."

Ms Goody died earlier this year from cervical cancer.

Tags: Cancer | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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