To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider making cervical screening available on the NHS for women under the age of 25.
Answered on
15 February 2019
In 2012 the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy, recommended that the age of the first invitation for cervical screening should be age 25. This was based on evidence that there is little benefit for screening women below this age.
Cervical cancer in women under the age of 25 is very rare with 2.6 cases per 100,000 women and younger women often undergo natural and harmless changes in the cervix that screening could identify as cervical abnormalities, and in most cases these abnormalities resolve themselves without any need for intervention.
Further, the vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), introduced in 2008, is now routinely recommended for all girls aged 12 to 13 years and the first cohort of teenage girls to receive the HPV vaccination in year 8 (those born since September 1996) will turn 23 this year and become eligible for routine screening in two years’ time. The impact the vaccination will have on the number of abnormalities detected through routine cervical screening will be carefully monitored.
If a woman of any age including those under 25, has unusual symptoms, usually abnormal bleeding, they should consult their general practitioner immediately. They will be treated under the NHS and initially offered a speculum examination in accordance with the guidance for primary care on the management of young women who present with gynaecological symptoms.