Program Development
The development of the comprehensive approach to cervical cancer screening for women of Newfoundland and Labrador has been founded by a series of projects hosted by Western Health. During the third project in 1998-2001, a pilot to create the elements of an organized program provided the framework for provincial program implementation. In 2007, the initiation of the program implementation across all health authorities has been achieved. The requirements of an effective cytology screening program* are in development. These include:
- A policy on the age group of women to be targeted.
- A policy on the frequency with which women in different age groups will be invited for screening.
- A target group of women who are informed about the function and value of cervical cytology.
- A population register in which the target group can be identified.
- A means of extending periodic invitations to women to attend for screening and rescreening.
- Competent and acceptable facilities for the collection, examination and reporting of cervical cytology.
- Mechanisms for maximizing the probability that a woman with an abnormality attends for diagnosis and care.
- Effective and Efficient treatment of relevant abnormalities.
- A means of monitoring coverage of the population at risk at the screening program and other relevant process measures
- A means of monitoring the incidence of invasive cervical cancer in the target population and relating it to screening history.
*Source: Armstrong, BK. “The role of the cancer registry in cancer control”. Cancer Causes and Control, Vol 3. 1992. p 569-579.