Background: Cervical Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screening is an
effective method of detecting cytological changes in the cervix
before they lead to cervical cancer. However, the quality of a
Pap smear can be compromised by inflammatory exudate, in-
adequate cellularity or failure to sample the transformation
zone. We evaluated the effect of routine cervical cleaning on
Pap smear quality.
Methods: In a primary care setting, we compared the quality of
Pap smears obtained after cervical cleaning (with a dry, over-
sized cotton swab) with the quality of historical control slides
obtained from the same women without prior cervical clean-
ing. The results for both groups were then compared with sta-
tistical averages for the province of British Columbia.

Objective:  Establishing  the  prevalence  of  pre-
malignant and malignant cervical lesions amongst
women living in the CARMEN initiative demonstra-
tion area, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study of 8,015 ran-
domly selected women. Patients having abnormal cyto-
logy results received individualised diagnosis/treatment
(colposcopy, biopsy, or conisation). Histopathological
fndings were correlated with demographical data and
their sexual and reproductive history.

Pap smear sebagai alat  diagnosis dini  kanker serviks telah dilakuka
sejak tiga dasa warsa terakhir. Di  negera-negara maju, pap smear
telah terbukti menurunkan  kejadian kanker serviks invasif 46-76%
dan metalitas  kanker serviks 50-60%. Berbeda dengan Indonesia
pap smear belum terbukti mampu meningkatkan temuan kanker
serviks  stadium dini dan lesi perkanker. Hal ini dikarenakan  bawa
kuantitas  sumber daya manusia yang  rendah, prosedur  tes pap
yang komplek, akurasi pap  smear yang sangat bervariasi  dengan
negatif palsu yang tinggi serta sistempelaporan  yang  kurang
praktis , wilayah Indonesia sangat luas  yang terkait dengan
kesulitan transportasi  dan komunikasi, dan para wanita sering
enggan diperiksa karena ketidak tahuan, rasa malu, rasa takut, dan
faktor biaya. Hal ini umumnya  karena masih rendahnya tingka
pendidikan penduduk Indonesia.