The project is intended to encourage preventive care among high-risk women across the country. The announcement was made at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital and coincides with Cancer Month. The CCPN is made up of representatives from professional and non-governmental organizations, provincial cancer treatment and research foundations, provincial screening programs, and provincial ministries of health. It is also a visible application of the Department's move to a population health approach. The pilot project will be coordinated through the Nova Scotia Gynaecological Cancer Screening Programme.
Cervical cancer is the most common female cancer worldwide.
It is also the only cancer preventable by screening, yet 35 per cent of Canadian women aged 18-24 and 29 per cent of Canadian women over 65 have reported that they have never been screened for cervical cancer. Each year, over 200,000 pre-cancerous cervical abnormalities are reported in Canada. The establishment of organized programs for cervical screening is supported by all the provinces, territories and relevant professional organizations. While Nova Scotia and British Columbia currently are the only provinces which have such a program in place, the other regions are at different stages of planning or development. Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 1997 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.