Do women in rural and remote areas need different guidelines for management of low-grade abnormalities found on cervical screening?

Wain, Gerard V; Hammond, Ian G; Blomfield, Penelope I; Saville, Marion A; Davy, Margaret

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00523.x

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In reply: In June 2005, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) endorsed new guidelines for managing asymptomatic women with screen-detected abnormalities because they were safe for Australian women and were based on the best available Australian and international evidence.1 The NHMRC accepted that new information about the natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the cervix and cervical neoplasia demanded a reassessment of our traditional approach to this disease.

1 Gynaecological Oncology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW.
2 Gynaecological Oncology, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth, WA.
3 Gynaecological Oncology, Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart, TAS.
4 Victorian Cytology Service, Melbourne, VIC.
5 Gynaecological Oncology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA.

Correspondence: gerard_wain@wsahs.nsw.gov.au

1. National Health and Medical Research Council. Screening to prevent cervical cancer: guidelines for the management of asymptomatic women with screen detected abnormalities. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2005. http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/_files/wh39.pdf (accessed Jul 2006).<eMJA full text>
2. Breeze C, de Costa CM, Jagusch M. Do women in rural and remote areas need different guidelines for management of low-grade abnormalities found on cervical screening? Med J Aust 2006; 184: 307-308. <MJA full text>
3. Bentley E, Cotton SC, Cruickshank ME, et al. Refining the management of low-grade cervical abnormalities in the UK National Health Service and defining the potential for human papillomavirus testing: a commentary on emerging evidence. J Low Genit Tract Dis 2006; 10: 26-38.

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