[user104658]

Originally Posted by Cherie

well beep bop boop, I hate to break it to you but other things can grow in your cervix as well, like polyps which are better dealt with and removed rather than left in situ and also

Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by infection with certain types of HPV.

so not quite 100 per cent unless you think the NHS are rolling out this type of screening just for laughs

Yes but the rate is far less than practically any other cancer, and we don't routinely screen every part of the body for cancer, we only keep an eye out for the common ones (i.e. breast cancer, testicular cancer, cervical cancer if you have HPV).

Basically, there's no more need to go for the test if you don't have HPV than there is any other rare cancer (which functionally means, no need). The ratio of false-positives (abnormal cells that are not cancer) vs actual cancer found is high enough that the invasive procedures (which increase cancer risk) actually make it MORE likely that you'll get cancer with screening than without, if you don't have HPV.