Women over 65 still at risk from cancer from HPV and should be offered cervical screening – study

Cases of cervical cancer among older people rising globally as research finds over-65s more likely to have HPV infections than younger women

Routine cervical screening should be offered to women aged 65 and over as they are still at heightened risk of cancer from human papillomavirus (HPV), according to research.

Despite it being a preventable disease, there were about 660,000 cases of cervical cancer and 350,000 deaths from it worldwide in 2022, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).