The life saving cervical cancer screening awareness campaign became confusing for many women when the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or ACOG, came out with new recommendations in November.

Until the end of last year, women thought they should have a pap smear as part of a yearly gynecologist visit. The test detects infections, abnormal cervical cells, and even cervical dangers. It was recommended to start at 18, or before, if the young woman was sexually active.

In November the recommendation changed to age 21 for the first pap smear, then screenings every other year up to age 30, instead of every year. After that, every three years for healthy women.

The American Cancer Society has had these guidelines since 2002.

"And the reason we've come to this conclusion that women don't need to be screened until the age of 21 is because cervical cancer is very rare in people under 21 years of age," says AK American Cancer Society Ex. Director Sarah Robinson.

The Cancer Society puts those risk numbers at one case per one million. With those kinds of odds, ACS and now ACOG officials say it does not make sense to screen every young woman.

"This defiantly doesn't mean do not go in for your annual exam," says Medical Family Park Dr. Jill Gaskill, saying the only thing new recommendations mean is a conversation, at first, instead of just testing.

"A

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guideline is just that," Gaskill says. "It gives us guidance in terms of screening a population for a while, but it doesn't dictate what insurance pays for. It doesn't dictate what as physicians we can order after deciding with our patient what the right thing for them would be."

Which is what Robinson says the American Cancer Society also wants to emphasize.

"It's a great idea in that annual checkup talk to your doctor about screenings they should recommend for screenings that should happen at that age," Robinson says.

The most important thing emphasized is once a woman is 18, she needs to go have a yearly visit with her doctor. Doctors say the check-up should happen sooner if the young woman is sexually active. Through discussing family and medical history a determination can be made whether or not to have the test more frequently than the new guidelines.

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