Implementation and coverage of Thailand's cervical screening programme

Aree Prohmmo, Mahidol University

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in Thai women. Although cytology screening with pap smear has been available in Thailand for more than 40 years, the test is mainly used for diagnostic purposes. Not until 1997 was the cervical screening programme officially introduced. The programme is specifically targeted at women aged 35-54. Using data from a national representative survey and a small scale qualitative study, this paper describes the coverage of screening programmes, whether the programmes reach the target women, who are more likely to use cervical screening services, how the programmes are implemented, and to what extent women know about the programmes. It was found that the existing programmes were poorly targeted and provided only limited information to clients.