Cervical cancer: screening and vaccination must progress

One more effort to make. This is essentially the message delivered by Santé Publique France and the National Cancer Institute on the subject of cervical cancer. Indeed, the health authorities recall that “each year, nearly 3,000 women develop cervical cancer and 1,100 women die from it”. An aberration when we know that “for the World Health Organization, cervical cancer could be completely eliminated thanks to two effective and complementary interventions: screening and vaccination, which prevents human papillomavirus (HPV) infections included in the vaccine”.

Insufficient vaccination coverage and screening

“Vaccination coverage against HPV among adolescents has been increasing for several years but remains insufficient and participation in screening must increase” therefore insists the press release from Public Health France.

For the period 2018-2020, only 59% of women were screened, compared to 58% for the years 2017-2019 in France. A slight increase, therefore, but still too low.

Regarding HPV vaccination, only a third of 16-year-old girls had a complete vaccination schedule in 2020.

Complementary measures

The two measures are complementary, even if they do not concern quite the same public: vaccination can be done in girls and boys between 11 and 14 years old (with possible catch-up vaccination up to 19 years old). Screening concerns women aged 25 to 65, with screening every 3 years between 25 and 29 years (after 2 tests carried out 1 year apart and whose results are normal) and every 5 years between 30 and 65 years.

Remember that the latter aims to detect precancerous lesions and thus treat them before they develop into cancer. It also helps detect and treat cancers at an early stage. This screening is notified by mail to all the women concerned and is 100% covered by Social Security and without advance payment, in order to facilitate the process for as many people as possible.