Nearly three and a half million women in Australia, aged 20 and
over, had Pap smear tests in 2003-2004 says a report released today
by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The tests were provided through the National Cervical Screening
Program, which targets women aged 20 to 69 years and aims to
achieve early detection of pre-cancerous abnormalities and reduce
the numbers of cases which develop into cervical cancer.
Mr John Harding, Head of the Institute's Health Registers and
Cancer Monitoring Unit, said participation in this target age group
was 61% - about the same as the previous four years.
Participation was highest among women aged in their 40s and 50s,
with two thirds of women being screened. However, among women aged
20-24 years it was only 48%.
Participation was also just under 50% among women aged 65 to 69
years.
'While participation in this group has been increasing, it is
still low. This is a concern, as a quarter of new cases of cervical
cancer detected each year are in women aged 65 years and over,' Mr
Harding said.
The report, Cervical screening in Australia 2003-2004,
shows that the number of new cases of cervical cancer has fallen
from 1,091 in 1991 to 689 in 2002, with the age-standardised rate
almost halving, from 17 per 100,000 women aged 20-69 to 9 per
100,000.
In addition, the number of deaths in this period fell from 329
in 1991 to 227 in 2002. This trend continued in 2004, with the
latest mortality data showing a reduction in deaths to 212 and in
the age-standardised rate to 1.8 deaths per 100,000 women.
'These numbers reflect that fact that early detection with Pap
smear tests does work to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer,'
Mr Harding said.
22 August 2006
Further information: Mr John Harding AIHW, tel.
02 6244 1140.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the Cervical screening in
Australia 2003-2004 report.