Cervical cancer screening

All women aged 25 to 65 are invited to screening tests by HUS every five years. Cervical cancer screening is free of charge. In 2024, women born in 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994 and 1999 will be invited for testing. 

We strongly recommend participating in the screening regardless of your sexual activity, contraceptive method, or sexual orientation. You should also participate in the screening even if you have received an HPV vaccine or if you have had a hysterectomy. 

You will be pre-booked for an appointment, and you will be notified of this in a letter sent to your home address. If the pre-booked appointment is not convenient, you may reschedule it online or by calling our customer service. You may also cancel the appointment if you do not wish to participate in the screening. 

If you have a mobility impairment, please contact our customer service. Also contact us if you have previously had any difficulty with sampling in connection with the screening. 

We send out screening invitations according to date of birth. We receive information about those eligible for screening in three batches. The first batch of invitations will be sent to invitees born between the 1st and the 10th of the month. The second batch of invitations will be sent to invitees born between the 11th and the 20th of the month. The third batch of invitations will be sent to invitees born between the 21st and the 31st of the month. The first batch of invites will be mailed from March through June, the second batch from June through October and the third from October through December.

Previously, invitations were sent by the birth month.

• Make sure that you belong to the age group that is currently screened. See "Who is it for?"
• Invitations are sent at a steady pace throughout the year. If you have not received your invitation by the end of the year, you can contact the Diagnostic Center’s customer service.
• If you have moved to Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso, or South Karelia from elsewhere in Finland or from abroad, you can contact the Diagnostic Center’s customer service to participate in the screening.

Diagnostic Center's laboratory customer service tel. 09 471 86800.

If you have a valid non-disclosure for personal safety reasons, then we cannot obtain your address details from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency for mailing invitations to you. You must then book an appointment for sampling either online or by calling our customer service.

Please bring your KELA card or other ID to the screening appointment along with the cervical cancer screening form on paper that you were sent by mail. Please fill in the form before arriving for your appointment. You may also print out this form yourself. If you cannot use a printer, please be prepared to answer the questions on the form. 

Avoid using vaginal suppositories and gels (excluding Vagifem) for 1–2 days before sample collection.

Taking the sample takes about 15 minutes. 

If you are pregnant, it is generally possible to take a screening sample up until week 35 of the pregnancy. The sampling does not pose any hazard to your pregnancy. 

After childbirth, a screening sample may be taken once you have recovered, generally 1–2 months after delivery. 

You may participate in the screening if you are breastfeeding.

Screening sampling is not recommended if you are having your period, but any other discharge does not prevent sampling. 

You should participate in the screening even if you have had a hysterectomy.

Samples are taken by a specially trained nurse. The Pap smear sample is collected with a brush from the cervix, after which the brush is rinsed in a liquid-filled vial. 

If you have had a hysterectomy, the nurse will take a sample from your vagina using a brush. 

You will be mailed your results within about one to two months of the sampling. If nothing abnormal is found, you will receive your next invitation to screening in approximately five years.

In the case of abnormal findings, you will receive a letter with instructions on further examinations. You will also receive a separate invitation to the further examinations by letter to your home address or by phone.  Any further examinations required will be made at a gynecological outpatient clinic in your area. 

In the case of slight cell changes, it is sufficient to have a control sample taken within two years. For this sampling as well, you will receive a personal invitation. If you have obtained an order of non-disclosure for personal safety reasons (turvakielto), we cannot send you an invite. Instead, you must book a screening appointment yourself after two years.  

The screening shows your status at the time when the sample is taken. For the majority of women, the test results are normal, i.e. with no indications of HPV infection or cell changes in the cervix. Even if cell changes are found, in most cases they are slight and do not indicate cancer or pre-cancer.