Should population program of Pap smear screening tests for cervical cancer be continued in Poland?

Abstract

Population screening programs should be efficient and cost-effective. Cervical cancer screening program was implemented in Poland in 2006 and so far it did not achieve the main goal of the screening, which is to reduce the mortality rate of cervical cancer in the entire female population. The main reason of this are: poor organization that causes low quality of the program at every stage of its activity, low participation of women in screening and lack of reliable program monitoring. The organization of screening program in Poland significantly deviates from the international recommendations what led to lack of cost-effectiveness of the program. It is time to make a bold decision and end the program until a modern strategy is developed that would account for the latest global recommendations including e.g. vaccinations against HPV virus and HPV test as a screening test.