Policy: Pap Tests for all Women

Pap tests are currently the only way to detect HPV in women. Women are supposed to get tested once a year from the time they are sexually active. This is crucial in reducing the number of HPV cases, and in and turn, the number of cervical cancer cases each year. The more women that are tested, the more chance there is of catching and treating HPV cases, and preventing cervical cancer. Unfortunatly, not all women are getting tested. This is for a number of reasons, but we are concerned with the fact that many women simply lack the money and resources to get a pap test.

We propose that pap tests be available to all women in Canada for free. Pap tests should be covered by the health care system, like other cancer and STI screening programs. Women who do not have access to a family doctor should have access to a clinic or hospital. This may require travelling clinics, or nurses and doctors who visit isolated and marginalized women living in rural areas or on native reserves a few times a year.

Women must be educated on need and importance of pap tests, and they need to know how they can go about getting tested. This can be done through campaigns in hospitals and clinics, and doctors should remind all women to get tested, just as women are reminded to get mammograms.

In order to introduce this policy, we would join forces with the Women's Health Network, which shares our values and they have knowledge and experience in the area of women's health, which would be greatly beneficial to us. We would need to seek the approval of provincial health ministers. This may mean having a trial in one or two provinces, with hopes of getting all on board. We could also start at a more local level, involving MPs who share our vision. That way we could see what parts of the policy work and what parts do not, and make necessary changes before going provincial or federal. Setting up an evaluation process would be necessary as well, especially if we are depending on funding from the government.We will also have to be aware of cultural and religious issues, as some groups may not welcome the idea of pap tests, and view them as unnecessary or envasive to women.