European Cervical Cancer Screening Week begins. The ARS and the Health Insurance alert on the too low rate of screening and promote the vaccination of adolescents and adolescents.
The numbers are relentless : “We register 3,000 new cases each year, causing 1,100 deaths per year: cancer of the cervix is the 12th most common cancer in women in France”, explains Agathe Dumas of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Occitanie. And the message is clear: “Our goal, within the framework of the 16th European Cervical Cancer Weekis to raise awareness about regular screening. You should know that during their lifetime, 70% of women and men will have been in contact with the human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of these uterine cancers. It is a very high prevalence. It is also also responsible for (pre)-cancerous lesions ENT, penis and anus.”
Vaccine offered to adolescent girls and boys
For this, the ARS has “two levers”, the first is prevention with the anti-HPV vaccine that we offer “as much to boys as to girls, from 11 to 14 years old, before their entry into their sexual life. With a possible catch-up at 19 years old”. The second is of course the screening of the cervix, what was called the smear. “It is recommended every three years for women aged 25 to 29 then for those aged 30 to 65 every five years”, says Agathe Dumas.
Low detection rate
The screening rate is currently too low, barely one in two women agrees to be screened (51.53%) in Hérault, for example. It is more or less the same observation in the other departments of Occitania (see the map on the front page), far from the national objective of 80% hoped for by the health authorities who therefore want to boost it. For this, explains Valérie Tchen-Fo, of Health Insurance, “We organize awareness days in hospitals or private clinics. We take the opportunity to offer them a mammogram.”
“A woman over 50 and/or who is in a disadvantaged social situation…”
The typical portrait of the woman to screen? “She is a woman who is over 50 and/or who is in a disadvantaged social situation; who is sometimes already ill and suffering from an ALD (long-term illness) or a disability or obesity. We also have an action plan for all audiences, and so that general practitioners are also made aware.” Specialized associations are also solicited.
Free and 100% supported
Doctor Guy of the Regional Cancer Screening Center (CRCDC) says: “It was in 2018 that the Ministry of Health launched a national screening plan. In 2021 only 143,000 women were screened nationally for uterine cancer. It should be remembered that this screening is free and 100% covered, and that there is no advance payment. You can get tested by your general practitioner, your gynecologist, a midwife or in certain laboratories.”
A conclusive study published in The Lancet
As proven by a study published on November 3, 2021 in the prestigious journal The Lancet, cases of cervical cancer have fallen significantly among British women who have been vaccinated against HPV infection, the cause of this sexually transmitted form of cancer. Many countries have launched screening and vaccination campaigns for adolescents.
Mediterranean rim
In 2018, compared to the national average, the number of new cases was particularly high around the Mediterranean (from Bouches-du-Rhône to Hérault). Worldwide, cervical cancer caused 311,000 deaths that year, mainly in low-income countries, with nearly 600,000 new cases annually. This makes it the 4th most common cancer in women, according to the WHO, the World Health Organization.
Olivier SCHLAMA