Why was the age for screenings raised?

In 2003 the Department of Health made a decision to raise the age for first cervical screening from 20 up to age 25.

This decision was made from recommendations by:
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an agency of the World Health Organisation that coordinates and conducts research into cancer
- Cancer Research UK
- The independent Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening

Research found that screening younger women did more harm than good, and the Committee concluded that age 25 was the tipping point at which the benefits outweighed the risks.

In 2009 public demand forced the Advisory Committee to review their decision, but they concluded that no changes were to be made.

Here are the main reasons they give for raising the age:

1. Cervical screenings could lead to unnecessary treatment

• Younger women often undergo natural and harmless changes in cells in the cervix
• These cell changes would show up on a smear test as an abnormal result
• Most of these changes are harmless and are likely to correct themselves over time
• This higher degree of changes means that 1 in 3 cervical screenings will find abnormal results, compared to 1 in 14 of older women, meaning there are many false positives
• This will lead to unnecessary treatment

2. This treatment is potentially harmful

• The research suggested that such treatment could affect pregnancy in women, for example with a possibility of causing miscarriages, still births, premature labour or problems in labour 
• The first point of call with an abnormal smear is merely to investigate further
• One option is to observe changes over a number of months, which merely requires follow-up smears to check the development - so not all abnormal results will lead to treatment
• Another option is to remove a portion of the cells in a minor operation for further examination, which may or may not then require treatment
• Treatment can be as simple as removing the abnormal cells from the cervix
• ...but it can also mean a much rarer and more invasive treatment of cutting part of the cervix away, leaving it shortened and weakened. It is this treatment that the research suggested had a possibility of affecting childbirth
• Therefore in under 25s they concluded that the risk outweighs the benefit

3. It causes unnecessary worry and stress

• Getting an abnormal result, for many women, causes a degree of worry and stress
• Because of the high level of false positives in younger women for cell changes that are mostly normal and harmless, these women are put under stress about their abnormal result unnecessarily

4. Relatively few cervical cancers are detected in under 25s - it is very rare