An epidemic of cervical cancer has been avoided in Britain by a nationwide screening programme and can serve as a template for Ireland, a conference in Dublin has been told.
Dr Patrick Walker consultant gynaecologist at Royal Free Hospital in London told delegates at the Irish Cancer Society conference that the NHS Cervical Screening Programme has achieved an 80 per cent reduction in incidence of cervical cancer in Britain.
Irish Cancer Society chief executive John McCormack
Dr Walker said: "We were very fortunate in 1988 that the UK government recognised that vigilance against the onset of disease is the best defence against cervical cancer".
"We are also confident that we will eventually save the lives of 100,000 British women born since 1950," he added.
The NHS cervical cancer screening programme screens almost four million women per year aged 25 between 64, through a computerised call and re-call system.
Recent data shows Ireland has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in Western Europe but as yet there is no national screening programme.
In 2000 there were 1,090 new cases of cervical pre-cancer, 193 cases of cervical cancer and 65 deaths from cervical cancer in Ireland.
The Irish Cancer Society's chief executive John McCormack said: "We cannot accept that lack of financial resources is a barrier to the implementation of nationwide cervical cancer screening in Ireland.
"Our government has to agree that the medical and hidden costs of treating cervical cancer are far more expensive than the implementation of nationwide screening. We must not let women suffer and die needlessly from this wholly preventable disease".
The ICS is calling on the Department of Health to roll out a national programme free of charge to all women aged between 25 and 60 years.
Cervical screening prevents the development of cervical cancer because it recognises a pre-cancer stage which can be treated successfully before the cells become cancerous and spread.
