If you’ve not had a Pap test recently because you don’t have a family doctor or are stuck on a waiting list, you need only wait until Monday.
Starting May 5 and for the rest of the week, the British Columbia Cancer Agency is piloting its first Pap Test Week, where Lower Mainland women can walk into 12 participating clinics without an appointment and get tested.
Dr. Imtiaz Hassam, the medical leader for the cervical cancer screening program of B.C., said about 73 per cent of B.C. women get tested regularly.
“We know it’s much lower for young women in their 20s,” Hassam said. “It’s only about 63 per cent and it’s decreasing.”
Hassam said women’s participation might be influenced by their ability to access clinics.
“Also young women are a more mobile group than their parents would have been so they might not have a regular family practitioner.”
He said the goal is to bring at least 100 women to the walk-in program.
