“I’m really looking forward to my Pap smear today—said no woman ever” is a sentiment shared by legions of females for good reason. Lying on a table with their feet in stirrups and their legs spread apart so a gynecologist can pry their vagina walls open with a speculum and scrape cell samples from their cervix can be downright awkward, uncomfortable, and embarrassing.
Filipinas, in fact, are so averse to Pap smears that less than 1% of 54 million Pinays have undergone it in 2023, said the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
Small wonder then why cervical cancer is the second leading type of cancer among women and girls between the ages of 15 and 44 in the Philippines.
“Consider these sobering statistics: Every two hours, a Filipino woman dies from cervical cancer. Every day, cervical cancer takes the lives of 12 women in the Philippines. Every year, 4,380 women succumb to cervical cancer,” says Renee Vina G. Sicam, MD a gynecologist from top hospital in the Philippines, Makati Medical Center (MakatiMed). “This wouldn’t be the case if women get a regular Pap smear, a screening test to detect precancerous or cancerous cells in the cervix.”
You don’t have to like it, adds the MakatiMed health specialist. “You just have to appreciate the importance of the test as a proactive and preventive measure against cancer.” Dr. Sicam sets the record straight on this cringy but vital procedure:
Get a Pap smear. “A Pap test is strongly recommended for those who are 30 years old,” Dr. Sicam explains. “If the test comes out with a normal result, which means no abnormal cells were found, screening can be performed every three years.”
Can Pap smear also detect HPV? Dr. Sicam clarifies that there’s a separate HPV DNA testing that checks for the presence of human papillomavirus, whose strains are linked to cervical cancer. “This test is also recommended to those at least 30 years old. If results come out negative, screening can be done every five years.”
It doesn’t require much preparation. “Before you go to your Pap smear appointment, make sure you don’t have your period,” says Dr. Sicam.
Wear comfortable clothing to your appointment. Your doctor will either have you change to a hospital gown sans underwear or have you strip from the waist down. “Ask a friend or family member to accompany you if you’re feeling anxious about the test,” advises Dr. Sicam.
It’s fast. A Pap smear takes no more than five minutes tops! After that, you’re free to go about your daily activities. “Depending on where you have your Pap smear done, the results can be released after a few days or up to three weeks,” says Dr. Sicam.
Having performed numerous Pap smears before, the MakatiMed gynecologist has seen how stressed and vulnerable patients get when a relative stranger checks them “down there.” “Honestly, we don’t care what you or ‘it’ looks like,” assures Dr. Sicam. “We just want to make sure that you get properly tested to rule out cervical cancer or take steps to help you overcome the disease.”