ASK THE EXPERTS
MENOPAUSE EXPERT
Dr Anne Henderson is a gynaecologist and author of Natural Menopause (gynae-expert.co.uk).
Q I am 65 years old and no longer get invited for cervical screening. Why is this?
A The current NHS cervical screening programme ends at age 65. Women are called every three years during their adult life until they turn 50, when the screening intervals increase to five years. The screening interval and end date are based on a large body of scientific and epidemiological data indicating that the incidence of new cases of cervical pathology in women in their 50s and beyond is extremely low, and significantly less than pathology found in younger women.
The safety of the screening programme has been further enhanced by the introduction of primary HPV testing, which was introduced in England a couple of years ago and has now been rolled out across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well. This has essentially automated the screening programme and taken out a substantial proportion
