The first part of this article will provide an overview of cervical cancer screening in the UK during the years before, during and after the introduction of a highly successful centrally organised cervical screening programme in 1988: since then the incidence of invasive cervical cancer has fallen by more than 40%. Screening was introduced in a background of opportunistic screening with poor qu...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the introduction to two health districts of an antenatal serum screening programme for Down's syndrome using the triple test-measurement of alpha fetoprotein, unconjugated oestriol, and human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations in second trimester serum samples. METHODS All women delivering at the main maternity units in both districts were eligible for the screening...

To the Editor—It is with great interest that I read the article “Alternatives to colonoscopy for population-wide colorectal cancer screening” by Leung et al1 in the February issue of the Hong Kong Medical Journal. Implementing a population-wide screening programme is complex, and should be based on evidence and cost-effectiveness. Australia’s experience may be seen as a model for the multitude ...

current screening programme, indicate that such a cardiovascular screening programme appeals to and attracts a large audience. Persons attracted to such a programme seem to constitute a relatively healthy sample of the population, and this needs to be taken into account in the consideration of these results. However, the risk of developing future atherosclerotic disease in screened elderly men ...

BACKGROUND Against a background of failure to prevent neonatal invasive early-onset group B Streptococcus infections (GBS) in our maternity unit using risk-based approach for intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis, we introduced an antenatal GBS carriage screening programme to identify additional women to target for prophylaxis. OBJECTIVES To describe the implementation and outcome of an antepart...

A descriptive study was conducted on premarital HIV screening programme in Johor over a three year period. HIV screenings were done at government clinics and confirmed by accredited laboratories. As a result, 123 new HIV cases were detected (0.17%) from 74,210 respondents. In 2004, 24 cases (64.9%) advanced to marriage (n = 37) after they underwent counselling and six of them married among them...

A postal questionnaire was introduced as a screening procedure for a comprehensive geriatric assessment programme in general practice. It had a response rate of 81 per cent, a sensitivity of 0.95, a specificity of 0.68, and a predictive value of 0.91. The use of this screening procedure could reduce the workload of an assessment programme by one fifth.

OBJECTIVES To report the sensitivities of the faecal occult blood test, screening episode, and screening programme for colorectal cancer and the benefits of applying a randomised design at the implementation phase of a new public health policy. DESIGN Experimental design incorporated in public health evaluation using randomisation at individual level in the target population. SETTING 161 of...

In the UK, the national cervical cancer screening programme is probably the most established, robust and rigorous of all screening programmes that has evolved over 25 years. It has seen a multitude of changes based on evidence obtained from a vast amount of research and observations, as well as from advances in technology. This success has led to a definite impact on cervical cancer incidence w...