In January Osasunbidea launched an awareness programme for early detection of cervical cancer. Since then, 20,745 people have been invited to the test, 65% of them have. The objective is that people with a matrix between 35 and 65 years of age can serve 160,000 people in the next five years. The tests are done every five years and the people who are going to perform the test receive a letter. However, only those 35, 40, 50, 55, 60 and 65 will receive a letter.

There are two ways to perform the test; it is performed by a health professional or self-care. 95% of those who have taken the test this year have decided to self-welcome and the rest have requested that the sample be taken by a health professional.

The reception will be made by a healthcare professional and should be called to the NOPLOI, the telephone number 848 423 498 or the SUOZ reference centre.

To perform self-care

The test should be performed on days when there is no rule, during the twenty-four hours before the test, sexual intercourse cannot be maintained due to penetration and drugs entering the vagina cannot be used during this interval of hours.

Those wishing to perform the test at home will receive a tube with a brush. Before the test, hands are thoroughly washed with soap and water and then dried. They shall have a tube and shall remove the brush from the inside without touching the inside. At the center of the brush is a red line. Take the red line and slowly insert the brush through the vagina. When inside the vagina you have to rotate for 20 seconds. It is finally removed from the vagina and inserted into the tube.

Once the test is completed, the sample will be deposited in the network of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Centers, the Navarro Institute of Public and Occupational Health or the Health Center. Health professionals analyze the sample and report the result to the patient, performing a cytology in case of a positive result.

25 to 34 years

In contrast, young people between 25 and 34 years of age perform direct cytology. They receive a letter or a call if they have previously gone to the gynecologist. People who have never gone to the gynecologist should call the SUOZ.