Aragón has not yet started cervical cancer screening

The community only carries out opportunistic testing on women between 25 and 65 years old

Aragón has not yet implemented the cervical cancer screening program, which aims to detect this pathology early, despite having announced its launch for 2018. Three years later "there is no specific date » for its premiere, as confirmed by sources from the DGA Health Department.

At the moment, the only thing that is done in the community is "opportunistic" screening of women between 25 and 65 years old who, when they go to the Primary Care doctor, are offered the possibility of being tested. This is a cytology by the health center midwife.

That is to say, there is no proactive recruitment of people in that age group through invitation letters, as is the case with breast or colon cancer, to get them to participate. In 2018, Health announced that it was already working on the design of patient referral circuits in each sector, while the incorporation of women into screening would be done "gradually", taking advantage of their relationship with the health system. However, there is no evidence that this initiative was completed.

Cervical cancer is the third most common neoplasm among women and it is one of the malignant cells that can be controlled most effectively through early detection plans.

In 2019, the Ministry of Health announced that the population screening program for cervical cancer was being introduced into the public network's service portfolio along with micropigmentation in breast reconstruction.

Despite the national impulse, in Aragon there has been no progress on the issue (except in the Barbastro pilot program) and the arrival of the covid pandemic has made it even more difficult to apply any initiative. In fact, the health crisis has already forced the cancellation, for a few months, of colon screening, which has been resumed little by little since November.

On paper, the cervical strategy contemplates that women between 25 and 34 years old will undergo cytology every three years, while those between 35 and 65 will first determine if they are carriers of the human papillomavirus. To do this, they will undergo the test, considered the main causal agent of cervical cancer.

This virus lives on the skin and mucous membranes and is transmitted by coming into contact with the skin of a carrier, especially during sexual relations. This infection is very common, especially in young people.

If the papilloma test gives a negative result, the test will be repeated every five years. If it is positive, the patients will undergo regular cytology tests. In any case, the way to prevent cervical cancer is vaccination against the virus, which is included in the community calendar and is recommended for girls of 11 or 12 years old, as well as the use of a condom during sexual relations.