Social and psychological aspects of cervical screening

Since its introduction, there have been concerns regarding the psychological and psychosexual issues associated with cervical screening and the management of abnormal smears. We are now entering a new era in which vaccination against the main cause of cervical cancer, the human papillomavirus, has become possible, and testing for human papillomavirus is likely to become widespread in screening, triage of abnormal smears and the follow-up of women after treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. It is important that the social and psychological implications of this are understood and that ways of overcoming personal and societal difficulties relating to these issues are found.