Australia is one of the first countries to offer this game-changing self-collection option for detecting HPV in cervical cancer screening.
From 1st July all Australian women aged 25 to 74 years of age will be among the first in the world to have the option to take a self-collected vaginal sample, providing for a much less invasive procedure than the standard clinician-collected sample – a move that is expected to increase screening participation rates.
Every 60 seconds, someone’s mother, wife, sister, aunt or daughter is diagnosed with cervical cancer somewhere in the world, with over 800 cases diagnosed in Australia each year1.
Cervical cancer is one of the greatest threats to women’s health and Australia is a global leader in preventing it, with an effective HPV vaccination program delivered through schools, and a longstanding cervical screening program, yet still, according to the Department of Health approximately 800 women each year are diagnosed with cervical cancer in Australia.
Even though cervical cancer screening for early detection and prevention is widely available in Australia, 72 per cent of cervical cancer cases occur in women who are either overdue for screening or who have never been screened2.
“We note that particularly young people between the ages of 25 and 29 are not participating in the screening program in the numbers we would like to see,” said Professor Marion Saville, Executive Director at the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer.
In this video, health care professional considered experts in the field of cervical cancer, discuss the new HPV self-collect programme and what it means for Australian patients.
Giving women the option to self-collect is part of an expanded campaign by the Federal Government to make cervical cancer screening more accessible and more widely available, helping Australia achieve theWorld Health Organisation’s global strategy3 to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030.
Self-collection was only available to women aged 30 years or over who had never participated in the cervical cancer screening programme or were two or more years overdue, but now that is about to change.
The barriers to screening include the invasiveness of the procedure which is often considered uncomfortable. Further, inequity of access due to cultural and personal barriers also discourages women from screening, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as culturally and linguistically diverse women, and gender and sexually diverse people. However, the expanded access aims to address this.
Since the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) changed in 2017 from a 2-yearly Pap test to a 5-yearly cervical screen using a human papillomavirus (HPV) test, screening participation rates in Australia have been below 60%4.
“People who were due to have their screening test in 2020 are more likely, due to COVID restrictions, to be overdue and face challenges for screening,” Professor Saville added.
Roche Diagnostics Australia, the country’s leading supplier of the HPV test, applauds the Federal Government’s expanded program and the expected increase that it will have on participation rates in cervical screening.
“Roche is committed to supporting the Government to reduce and eliminate cervical cancer through expanded self-collection and greater access to all eligible women,” said Roche Diagnostics Australia Managing Director, Allison Rossiter.
“Our HPV tests will be the most widely available in Australia. The test is included on the ARTG to provide individual results for HPV genotypes 16 and 18, the two highest-risk types known to be the primary cause of cervical cancer. By providing individual results, clinicians can better risk-stratify patients, and make patient management decisions with confidence,” she added.
“Self-collection is much less invasive and uncomfortable than the current speculum collection performed by a healthcare professional. Now people can collect a vaginal swab sample themselves in a private room at the clinic,” Professor Saville said.
“This will potentially remove some of the cultural and personal barriers that have previously discouraged women from screening. Cervical cancer is preventable and elimination is within reach if we take action now.”
Roche is a presenting partner of Conquering Cancer, a global communications initiative that is showing the world that cervical cancer elimination is achievable everywhere.
