Monitoring Activities of the National Cervical Screening Program Safety Monitoring Committee

This report looks at the evidence collected and assessed by the Safety Monitoring Committee established to assess whether there were adverse outcomes following the introduction of new NHMRC guidelines on how women with a low-grade Pap test result or a treated high-grade cervical biopsy result should be managed. Acknowledging that new evidence may come to light in future which could affect this picture, the overarching message from the evidence currently available and the methods used to assess this evidence is that the new guidelines have not led to an increase in cervical cancer in the seven years since they were introduced. (Released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 22 November 2013)