Pathways to Accelerate Cervical Cancer Elimination (PACE)
Substantial barriers to cervical cancer screening and treatment continue to exist for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women, particularly in rural and remote areas. As a result, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women tend to have lower participation in cervical screening. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women may also experience delayed management and treatment of cervical abnormalities, resulting in higher rates (and later stage at diagnosis) of cervical cancer.
The Pathways to Accelerate Cervical Cancer Elimination (PACE) project aims to demonstrate how a tailored cervical cancer screening model, involving self-collection of vaginal samples and HPV molecular point-of-care (POC) testing, can increase the uptake and improve the experience of cervical cancer screening. Importantly, the model will recognise sovereignty of communities, with implementation of strategies to be co-designed with individual health services.
Over a 2-year period, PACE will be conducted under a research framework, with 20 clinics invited to participate. Existing POC systems and infrastructure, developed and implemented by the First Nations Molecular POC Testing Program will be adapted to meet the requirements for HPV-based screening as part of the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP), in partnership with the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer (ACPCC),
PACE is led by Indigenous researcher A/Prof Lisa Whop from Yardhura Walani the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at The Australian National University (ANU). For more information, please contact Dr Louise Causer, lcauser@kirby.unsw.edu.au, or Lauren Cooney, lcooney@kirby.unsw.edu.au
