Harney to get petition on cervical cancer screening

A petition with 55,000 signatures calling for a free national screening programme for cervical cancer will be presented to the Minister for Health today.

The online petition, organised by the Irish Cancer Society (ICS), will be presented to Mary Harney this morning by a delegation from the society.

The delegation will comprise Dr Gráinne Flannelly, consultant gynaecologist at the National Maternity Hospital; Dr John Kennedy, consultant medical oncologist at St James's Hospital, Dublin; Prof John Armstrong, chairman of the ICS; and John McCormack, the CEO of the ICS.

They will ask the Minister to stop needless deaths by introducing a free nationwide screening programme for women aged 25 to 60 as soon as possible.

The programme was promised 10 years ago after four expert reports recommended its implementation. A pilot programme in the midwest was successfully completed, and it was hoped that it would be rolled out by the Department of Health nationwide. However, so far there has been little progress.

Cervical cancer is a curable condition. The aim of a "smear test" screening programme is to detect precancerous cells in the cervix.

If treated at pre-cancerous stage, nine out of 10 women will require no follow-up treatment.

There are approximately 1,000 new cases of cervical precancer, 200 cases of cervical cancer and 70 deaths from cervical cancer in Ireland every year.

Under the current system it is up to the individual to present for a test. There is no free system as such in place even for those on medical cards, although they can be referred to a gynaecological specialist by their GP.

Many women do not seek to have the test until they have already developed symptoms.

There are also concerns at the current laboratory delays - of up to 12 weeks - for the return of smear-test results.

Ireland's mortality rates from cervical cancer are higher than for other European countries where free screening programmes are available.

Joan Kelly, nursing services manager with the ICS, said that with a really good call-and-recall screening programme very few women would die.

"The Irish Cancer Society is concerned about the timeline under which this programme is to be delivered, and the amount of work that still needs to be done in terms of organising labs and GPs," she said.

"We are looking for a firm commitment from the Minister about when this programme will be put in place."