Bioethical aspects of screening programs for secondary prevention of cervical cancer

Abstract

Cervical cancer is one of the most frequent oncological diseases in the female sex, with an incidence of 13.3% worldwide, but thanks to treatment and screening programs in Italy, survival at 5 years after diagnosis is 68% (Italian Cancer Registry data).The use of screening of the general population as a public health tool, in order to treat the disease early, has increased the chances of successful treatment and reduced mortality from this specific cause in the population in question. In the present article, a review of studies related to the ethical aspects of screening tests for carcinoma of the uterine cervix was conducted.

This review showed how crucial the role of the Biomedical Laboratory Health Technician (BST) is in the phase of communication with the patient as well as in the preparation of biological specimens and the conduct of HPV-DNA and Pap Test. In addition, it showed that the bioethical implications of screening programs also involve the figure of the TSLB who must operate not only in a technically correct but also morally unimpeachable manner.