§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent reports and evidence he has received about the incidence of cervical cancer among over-65-year-olds; whether he has any plans to alter his Department's guidelines to include regular provision of regular cervical smears for women over 65 years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyInformation about the incidence of cervical cancer is regularly published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Guidance issued by the Department of Health to health authorities, family practitioner committees and general practitioners in January 1988, a copy of which is in the Library, stated
women aged 65 and over who have not had two consecutive negative smears in the last ten years should also be screened.GPs are well placed to carry this out. Our most recent figures show that women over the age of 65 already consult their doctor more than six times a year on average. Under the GPs' new contract much greater emphasis is being placed on health promotion and the prevention of ill health, including the requirement to offer health checks in specific circumstances (for example annually to patients aged 75 and over) and encouraging doctors to hold more health promotion clinics. This will mean that GPs will have even more opportunities to advise women patients over 65 of the wisdom of accepting these effective preventive measures.