Health

CervicalCheck controversy could ‘derail’ screening programmes, WHO body warns

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has expressed concern that the situation in Ireland could have a ‘ripple effect’ across Europe

Dr Gabriel Scally, a public health physician who was appointed by the government to conduct a scoping inquiry of the CervicalCheck programme in 2018, welcomed the news of the IARC review. Picture: Eamon Ward

A World Health Organisation (WHO) body has warned that public trust and litigation issues arising from the CervicalCheck controversy could “derail” screening programmes in Ireland and have a “ripple effect” across Europe.

Speaking to the Business Post, Partha Basu, deputy head of early detection, prevention and infections at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a WHO body, said that Ireland has very well run screening programmes, but that missed cancers were a certainty ...