In January of 2024, the British Columbian Provincial Government announced that a new cervical cancer screening program was being implemented that was based on the use of HPV DNA vaginal self sampling, as opposed to pap testing. This exciting development in the field of HPV and cervical cancer prevention, also opened new questions for care providers and the public regarding the cascade of care following a positive result, and especially applicable to the research of the RID team, the adaptations of this program for immunocompromised people (including women and gender-diverse people with a cervix living with HIV). Two new resources have been released that were co-developed by the team at the RID Program, to help answer these questions regarding the the HPV screening protocols and cascade of care for women and gender-diverse people with a cervix living with HIV, as well as other immunocompromised individuals. These include a visual diagram of the screening algorithm that immunocompromised women and gender-diverse people with cervix will be screened according to and (if applicable) be referred to further screening/treatment if a positive HPV DNA result is received, as well as guidelines for care providers on HPV screening for immunocompromised patients. These resources can be found below:
HPV Screening Algorithm for Immunocompromised Women and Gender-Diverse People with a Cervix
HPV Screening Guidelines for Immunocompromised Women and Gender-Diverse People with a Cervix