From 1 January 2025, primary HPV screening for the target age group will change from 30 to 64.
From 1 January 2025, primary HPV screening will be implemented in Belgium for the target group aged 30 to 64 in the context of breast cancer prevention. For that age group, a primary HPV test applies every five years, and for women aged 25 to 29, it remains a primary cytology screening every three years.
Women aged 25 to 29 are invited to attend this population screening every three calendar years and are entitled to one reimbursable smear test every three calendar years. From 1 January 2025, women aged 30 to 64 will be invited for a population survey every five calendar years, instead of every three calendar years. This also means that they are entitled to a free screening every five calendar years, so no longer every three calendar years. Screening is not recommended for women under the age of 25 – it is only reimbursed for high-risk groups. If screening has not been paid back for ten years in women over 65 years, a one-time joint test (cytology and HPV test) is recommended. Co-testing is not recommended in the age group of 25 to 64 years. Just as in the current situation, the patient himself is blamed for the inappropriate use of co-examination. You must tell her about this before you take the smear and get permission.
For you as a family doctor with GMD, this also means that in the course of 2025 – as soon as the CvKO receives the results from the Belgian Cancer Registry – the GMD will receive the results of each screening smear in a structured way in the EMD , along with receiving the final advice (routine screening schedule/immediate referral to colposcopy/new sample collection required/repeat the smear after twelve months). The laboratory always sends the result to the customer of the sample and for the diagnostic smears you only get the date of collection of the sample.
On Tuesday, November 19, Domus Medica, together with Dr. Kobe Dewilde, gynecologist at the UZ Leuven, will organize a webinar between 12 and 1 pm about the new HPV screening policy and HPV vaccination in teenagers.
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2024-10-31 12:45:00
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