CervicalScreen Singapore (CSS)

CervicalScreen Singapore is the national cervical cancer screening programme which aims to encourage women aged 25 - 69 who ever had sex to go for Pap smears once every 3 years. Pap smears can be carried out at private clinics and polyclinics. Currently, subsidised screening is available at all polyclinics.

A registry is set up under the CSS Programme where women who consent to provide their information to the registry receive reminders to go for screening once every 3 years. This service is available to women who attend the subsidised screening at the polyclinics.

What is cervical cancer?
A woman's cervix is located at the lower part of the womb and consists of millions of tiny cells. Sometimes, changes can occur in these cells. In many cases, the cells spontaneously recover. However, in some cases, these changes in the cells develop into cancer. Cervical cancer can be prevented if these precancerous changes are detected and treated.

How common is cervical cancer?
Cervical cancer is the 5th most common cancer among Singaporean women. Every year, about 200 women are detected with cervical cancer and about 100 die from the disease.

The incidence of cervical cancer in Singapore has declined from 18.1 in 1968 to 10.6 per 100,000 women in 2002. Among the three major ethnic groups in Singapore , Chinese has the highest incidence rate of 11.5 per 100,000 women per year, followed by the Malays and Indians at 7.4 and 6.1 per 100,000 women respectively.

Pap smear screening in Singapore
A health survey conducted in 2004 showed that 4 in 5 Singaporean women aged 25-69 years know what is a Pap smear and 70% ever had a Pap smear. However, only 52% of the women had their Pap smear done in the last 3 years.

The survey findings revealed that although the knowledge level of Pap smear is high, most women are not screened once every 3 years. Regular screening can prevent cervical cancer by detecting abnormal changes in the cervical cells when they are precancerous and can be treated.

The graphs below compare the Pap smear practices among Singaporean women between 1998 and 2004. In general, the proportion of women who had a Pap smear has increased from 64.2% in 1998 to 70% in 2004.