Some women are still waiting up to four months for the results of their cervical smear tests, it emerged yesterday.
Waiting times are longest in the north-west and mid-west. Plans for a national screening programme have not yet been extended past a three-year-old pilot programme in the Mid-Western Health Board region. However, the extension of the programme is currently being considered.
The news came as an Irish research team said they had developed a new test for cervical cancer that may be more accurate in identifying the disease.
The team, based at the Coombe Women's Hospital, St James's Hospital and Trinity College, have come up with a "molecular traffic light" which categorises women into low, medium and high risk of developing the cancer, depending on a number of factors.
Some 61 women died from cervical cancer in this State in 2002.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the average waiting times for test results were now between four to 16 weeks but results could be provided in fewer than three weeks for urgent cases.
The Department of Health began its pilot screening programme in the Mid-Western Health Board area in October 2000.
It is targeting 74,000 women in the 25-60 year age group and offering them free screening at five-yearly intervals.
The National Health Strategy, published in 2001, committed itself to extending the cervical cancer screening programme nationwide.
A Department spokeswoman said a review of the pilot programme was under way and would be completed within the next few months.
This would suggest how the programme should be rolled out in the rest of the State, she said.
Ms Liz McManus, Labour spokeswoman on health, said it was scandalous that women should have to wait up to four months for such important results.
"This is one cancer where early detection is absolutely crucial," Ms McManus said.
The test was relatively simple and inexpensive, yet the Government was not prioritising this issue for some reason, she said.
Ms McManus also questioned why the national screening programme was still not in place and said she would be raising these issues in the Dáil as a matter of urgency.
