Cervical Cancer: Screening
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of cervical cancer self-sampling on reaching under-screened populations; and what targets he has for the uptake of (a) in-clinic and (b) at-home self-sampling options.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Both the impact assessment and the equality impact assessment on the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling for the under-screened population in the National Health Service Cervical Screening Programme have been published and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cervical-screening-hpv-self-sampling-impact-assessments
The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation for the use of HPV self-sampling was permissive, meaning the NHS can, but does not have to, implement it. They should use it where they believe it can have a useful impact on supporting uptake. There are therefore no national targets at this time.
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