Annually, about 4 thousand women in Poland develop cervical cancer, while nearly 2 thousand die of this disease. The cervical cancer prevention programme is aimed at reducing the mortality rate.
Cervical cancer ranks among the most common malignant tumours of women. According to the Polish National Cancer Registry 13 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in every 100 thousand women annually.
The disease can remain latent for many years, but a cervical smear allows early diagnosis of precancerous lesions. At that point, starting appropriate treatment and preventing further development leads to complete recovery.
Who can participate?
The programme providing free cervical smears is addressed to women between 25 and 59 years of age, who are insured in the National Health Fund (NFZ) and have not had a cervical smear in the past three years (under NFZ) or have received a written invitation to undergo another cervical smear test after 12 months.
The risk factors potentially leading to the disease include a human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, early sexual initiation, a large number of sexual partners, a large number of births, low social and economic status, smoking and a pathological lesion previously diagnosed in a cervical smear.
The risk increases with age and the peak incidence is between 45 and 55 years of age.
Examination and treatment
The programme provides free medical consultation with a physician who maintains the case history, performs surveys and collects material for histopathological examinations, while also providing information on cervical cancer prevention.
During the next appointment, the physician hands over the test results to the patient and decides on further measures.
If the result shows no lesions, the patient should repeat the cervical smear in three years. The test results might also indicate that the next test should be performed after 12 months.
If the result is unclear, the physician refers the patient to further diagnostics, which involves a colposcopy and potential histopathological examination of smears.
Women diagnosed with cervical cancer are referred for treatment.
One of many screening programmes
This programme has been implemented since 2006 and is one of the many screening programmes conducted under the National Cancer Control Programme. The focus is on diagnosing cancer at the earliest stage in potentially healthy people who exhibit no symptoms, but belong to the highest-risk groups for malignant tumours.
According to Prof. Mirosław Wysocki, Director of the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene, only one in four Polish women who receive an invitation to a free cervical smear covered by the Programme do not turn it down.
The addresses of health care centres providing free cervical smears covered by the Programme can be found on the websites of the voivodeship branches of NFZ or on www.profilaktykaraka.coi.waw.pl in the tab showing the addresses of WOK - Voivodeship Coordinating Centres for the Population-based Programme of Prevention and Early Detection of Cervical Cancer, or directly on their respective websites.
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