Enrolment of young women attending cervical cancer screening to survey effectiveness of HPV vaccination.

Authors

Marc Arbyn, Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels
Davy Vanden Broeck, Ghent University
Johannes Bogers, Ghent University
Pierre Van Damme, Antwerp University
Marleen Temmerman, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Steven Weyers, Ghent University

Document Type

Article

Department

Obstetrics and Gynaecology (East Africa)

Abstract

In his letter, W. Tjalma expresses concerns regarding cervical screening in Belgium before the age of 25 [1]. Having authored the European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening and/or acted as advisor for the development of Belgian recommendations for cervical cancer prevention, we confirm that screening of women before the age of 25 years is generally not cost-effective and potentially harmful [2]. Although not recommended, the reality is that a relatively large proportion of younger women in Belgium do have Pap smears taken [3]. In the period 2002–2006, the proportion of women with a Pap smear within the previous 3 years, was 17% and 51%, in age groups 15–19 and 20–24, respectively [4].

Comments

This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Cancer Epidemiology

Recommended Citation

Arbyn, M., Broeck, D. V., Bogers, J., Damme, P. V., Temmerman, M., Weyers, S. (2016). Enrolment of young women attending cervical cancer screening to survey effectiveness of HPV vaccination.. Cancer Epidemiology, 45, 178-179.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_mc_obstet_gynaecol/169