Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2022: A guide to writing about cervical screening

By: NSS communications team

We are working to promote a better understanding of the screening services we provide. To mark Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2022 we have produced a simple guide to writing about cervical screening in Ireland.

Who is this guide for?

This guide is for journalists, broadcasters, commentators, bloggers academics and all those producing news and commentary on cervical screening in Ireland.

We are mindful that cervical screening in Ireland is a complex subject. So it is important to have as much factual information as possible. This guide has information about our national population cervical screening programme, CervicalCheck.

It includes the following information on the screening programme:

• Background and history
• The tests we use
• Screening’s role in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer in Ireland
• Key facts and terms used. 

We hope it will help inform accurate wider public discussion on cervical screening.

A recent study by CERVIVA looked at the effects of a screening controversy on women’s perceptions of cervical cancer screening. The study found that there is a need for ‘initiatives to improve people’s understanding of screening and its purpose; to support and enable informed decision-making around participation’.

We hope this guide is one such initiative. We hope writers can use this guide to:

• Enhance knowledge about cervical screening and cervical cancer
• Offer an evidence-based source of information for writers to use
• Give writers and content producers a responsive point of contact for future work
• Help ensure that women and all people with a cervix get accurate information to enable them to make informed choices about screening. 

We hope this document will support understanding of cervical screening, and that this will lead to better outcomes for the people we care for in screening. 

Where you can find out more:

You can send press and media queries about cervical screening to the HSE’s press office at press@hse.ie or phoning 01 921 3912. 

Visit the HSE Media Centre for all press releases: www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/media/ 

If you have feedback on this guide we would like to hear from you. You can contact us to give feedback by emailing communications@screeningservice.ie 

 

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