Recommendations for cervical screening 1997. Members of the Working Party on Cervical Screening

The Ministry of Health and the Cancer Society of New Zealand invited a working group to review the 1991 recommendations on cervical screening. No major changes have been suggested but minor modifications have been made with regard to recent literature. All women who have ever had intercourse should be offered a three yearly cervical smear test from age 20 to age 69. If it is a woman's first smear or there is a gap of five or more years since her last one, the second smear should be taken in one year's time. Women who have had a hysterectomy for a benign condition, with complete removal of histologically normal cervical epithelium and a normal smear history, do not require further screening. Women who are immunocompromised may require more frequent screening. The cervical smear will be part of the investigation of women with signs and symptoms of cervical cancer. It is not sufficiently sensitive, however, for a negative result to override clinical concern. Such women should be referred for gynaecological assessment irrespective of the smear result.