BREAKING NEWS Major change to NHS smear tests that will see women screened LESS often
Women in England will now be screened for cervical cancer every five years, instead of every three, health chiefs announced today.
The new protocol will be introduced from July, and applies to women aged 25 to 49 considered to be at low risk of the disease.
This comes following recommendations by the UK National Screening Committee and is already used for older women, aged 50 to 64 in England.
Modern cervical screening tests involve checking for an infection called human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the precursor to some 99 per cent of cervical cancers.
If a test is negative, women will now undergo no further testing for five years.
However those who test positive for HPV will continue to be invited for frequent check-ups to monitor any cell changes.
According to the NHS, studies have shown that if a woman tests negative for HPV, she is extremely unlikely to develop cervical cancer within the next decade.
Scientists at King's College London said the new five-year approach is as effective as the traditional screening cycle, and identifies the same number of cancers despite less frequent testing.
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