Lesbians ‘must have pap screen’

All women, including lesbians, have been reminded to have a pap screen, with more than 40 percent of NSW women failing to have regular two-yearly tests.
The latest data has revealed that only 58 percent of NSW women have the biennial pap test, compared to an Australian average of 61 percent.
Pap tests detect early changes in the cervix, which, if left untreated, can lead to cervical cancer.
The common misconception that women who have sex with women don’t need pap tests has been debunked by a number of health experts.
According to PapScreen Victoria, there is no evidence to suggest the human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, which is almost always the cause of cervical cancer, is lower for lesbians than heterosexual women.
NSW Women’s Minister Verity Firth said there was a belief that only heterosexual sex exposes a person to the HPV virus.
“But that isn’t the case, you can contract the virus in any sort of sex where bodily fluids are being shared,” she said.
Firth acknowledged that for some women the pap test can be uncomfortable, “but it’s five minutes of a little bit uncomfortable versus potentially contracting cervical cancer”.
ACON lesbian health officer Siri May said some lesbians don’t feel comfortable telling doctors about their sexual activities.
Some doctors also don’t believe women who have sex with women constitute a risk group, she added.
“The reason we have pap tests is to test for certain strands of HPV, those that can cause cervical cancer,” she said.
“HPV is also the virus that causes genital warts, and up to 80 percent of the population has had HPV at some point.
“Very few of those cases ever eventuate in genital warts, which are not really harmful.”
A vaccine against cervical cancer was made available to women in 2006, but it is most effective if given to girls before they start having sex.
Women who have had the HPV vaccine are still encouraged to have regular pap tests, as the vaccine does not reduce the risk of contracting cervical cancer to nil.