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New DIY alternative to pap smears will save lives and it’s easy as putting a tampon in, doctors say

A new do-it-yourself option for pap smears is being rolled out across the nation for women over 30 who are uncomfortable with the process and have either never been tested, or are two years overdue.

“We’ve moved away from pap smears. We now have HPV [human papillomavirus] testing,” said Deborah Bateson, the medical director at Family Planning NSW.

The latest procedure is only required once every five years, down from the previous two. It can be done by your doctor, but self-collection is also available.

“It is important to understand that this isn’t something you do at home,” Dr Bateson said, showing the ABC how the test works, with patients using a simple swab in doctors’ clinics.

“It’s a bit like putting a tampon in, it shouldn’t be uncomfortable. There’s no risk of harm with it.

“You can do this in the privacy of the bathroom or behind the screen. Women can have that sample collected and their GP can send it off to their lab.”

The Victorian Cytology Service in Melbourne is the only laboratory analysing the self-collected samples.

But that will change as more labs validate their testing platforms for the new process, which began this year.

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Indigenous women, lesbians may refuse traditional testing

Dr Bateson said there was a small but significant proportion of women who would benefit, including her patients in the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Fairfield, and Dubbo in western NSW.

“Women of certain cultural backgrounds may be under-screened. They can find it challenging to come in and have that intimate examination,” she said.

Dr Bateson said Indigenous women, survivors of abuse, people with a disability and lesbians were also more likely to refuse the potentially lifesaving tests.

And that decision can be fatal.

Federal Government projections show the disease will kill 258 women this year with many of those deaths preventable.

“About two thirds of women diagnosed with cancer in Australia are at least 18 months overdue for screening,” said Megan Smith, from the Cervix HPV group at Cancer Council NSW.

“We diagnose around about 800 cases of cancer each year,” Dr Bateson said.

“It’s a shattering diagnosis for women to have. And we do see it in women of all ages.”

In a report published in the Medical Journal of Australia, scientists found that if 100,000 previously unscreened women did the DIY test once, at the age of 30, 364 cancer deaths would be prevented.

“This is a wonderful thing if we can reduce that [mortality rate]. As a doctor I absolutely, wholeheartedly welcome this change,” Dr Bateson said.

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‘Drives me crazy when friends say they haven’t’

Cervical Cancer survivor Pamela Hardy was 33 when she was diagnosed with the disease that required surgery and caused fertility problems that meant she was unable to have children.

Now 39, she says early detection saved her life.

“It drives me crazy when my friends tell me that they haven’t had a pap smear,” she said.

“I’m a huge advocate amongst all of my friends, ‘go and get your pap smear’.

“And now I’ll be telling them to go and get their screening. It’s not even as bad — it’s every five years now. It’s all over and done within five minutes.”

Ms Hardy said that small bit of discomfort was worth it — “it is lifesaving”.

More information on the screening can be found here.

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Source ABC News

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