Doctor protests Pap smear changes
September 13, 2004

A NUMBER crunchers were dictating the health prospects of women who had shown low-grade abnormalities in Pap smears, the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMAQ) said today.

AMAQ president Dr David Molloy said proposals to change guidelines for the national cervical screening program - which meant those women would not be re-examined for up to a year - were compromising their health care.

He said the consequences could be dramatic for women, both physically and emotionally.

Dr Molloy said today the issue was raised at a health seminar in Brisbane at the weekend following the resignation of eminent pathologist Dr Annabelle Farnsworth as deputy chair of the National Cervical Screening Program over the proposed changes.

"The changes to the guidelines show that cost is coming before individualised patient care," Dr Molloy said.

He said new and disturbing data presented at the weekend seminar had shown that nearly 40 per cent of women who had an initial low-grade Pap smear abnormality had been found to have a high-grade pre-cancerous lesion when they underwent a more extensive investigation.

Dr Molloy said the change to the screening guidelines would mean a public health screening tool such as a Pap smear would be used as a diagnostic tool, for which it was not designed.

He said participation rates in Pap smear programs was still not adequate, leaving women most at risk without screening.

"Ninety per cent of cervical cancer occurs in patients who have had fewer than the recommended number of Pap smears and 50 per cent of cervical cancer occurs in women who have never had a Pap smear," Dr Molloy said.