Minister of Health Svandís Svavarsdóttir says the Ministry is considering processing cervical scans in Iceland once more after transferring the procedure to Denmark has not gone as smoothly as planned. Such a decision would require a great deal of preparation on the part of the National University Hospital, which would be processing the samples.
At the end of last year, cervical screening was transferred from the Cancer Society to capital area healthcare centres following a human error that led to several misdiagnoses at the Cancer Society. Authorities decided to send the samples to Denmark for viral and cellular analysis, which has been harshly criticized by women, gynecologists, and oncologists. There have been cases of women having to wait months for results even in cases where cellular changes had been detected.
In a radio interview this morning, Svandís stated that the processing time of the samples abroad was too lengthy and that it was concerning how little trust society had toward the changes made at the end of last year. “And that’s why we have been discussing with the Health Centres and the National University Hospital about the possibility of moving that research part back here.”
The process would require significant planning, according to the Health Minister, including ensuring staffing, equipment, and housing was available to process the samples. “In fact, we have always thought that it would be best if this was done here, but that requires preparation. It is not as if the National Hospital could take this over in a day.” Svandís stated she hoped the ministry and healthcare centres would be able to report more details on the issue in the next few days.
