Cervical smear
Question No. 5
screening test
REPLY BY THE SECRETARY FOR HEALTH & WELFARE
TO A QUESTION BY DR. HENRIETTA IP IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 1988-
DR. IP asked:
Question: Will Government consider introducing routine
cervical smear screening test (popularly termed Pap smear) for all women aged 30 and above in the early detection of cervical carcinoma which killed 150 women last year?
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE:
Sir
l.c.
Smear screening for cervical cancer is carried out at
the family planning clinics of the Government Family Health
Services and the Hong Kong Family Planning Association.
It also takes place in social hygiene clinics, gynaecological
and ante-natal clinics in government, subvented and private
hospitals. The Pap smear test is now widely available as a
routine check or when medically required.
From 1980 to 1983, a three-year pilot study on
routine screening organized by the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology, and the Department of Pathology of the University
of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society and the Medical and
Health Department was conducted at the government's maternal
and child health centres. A total of 18,013 smears were
examined, of which 130 were found to be abnormal. The total
number of cervical cancers detected was 23 and the pick up rate 1000 was therefore only 1.27 per thousand. This was considered to
be too low to justify a screening programme for all women.
Targetted screening of women with increased risk of contracting
cervical cancer is therefore preferred.
ste