Cervical cytology screening in a newly established government medical college: A bethesda-based reporting analysis

Cervical cancer poses a major health challenge in rural India due to limited screening access, necessitating cost-effective Pap smear programs using Bethesda criteria in new healthcare centres. This retrospective study analysed 148 cervical Pap smears from a rural medical college in central India, classified per the standardised Bethesda reporting system. Most smears (77.7%) were negative for intraepithelial lesion/malignancy (NILM), while abnormalities included ASC-US (4.7%), AGC-NOS and HSIL, successfully identifying precancerous lesions. The 31-40 years age group dominated (32.4%), with screening uptake increasing 74% between years 1-2, demonstrating programme feasibility in resource-limited settings. Thus, we show that preventive oncology by validating Bethesda-standardised Pap screening as an effective, scalable strategy for early cervicovaginal abnormality detection in underserved rural populations.