Opportunistic screening relies on women having a cervical smear when they visit a doctor for other reasons, or when they make their own appointment to be screened.

Opportunistic screening has a number of drawbacks compared to organised screening. These include:

• The overall reductions in cervical cancer are not as great as those seen with organised screening programmes,
• The effectiveness of screening can vary from one region to the next,
• It tends to screen women from the higher socioeconomic groups that already regularly access the medical system and have a lower risk of cervical cancer,
• It tends screen some women more often than needed,
• It under-screens women from lower socioeconomic groups and minorities.

Therefore, while opportunistic screening can reduce cervical cancer, it is less effective and efficient than organised screening and it promotes health inequalities.

For these reasons, the European Guidelines for cervical cancer screening recommend that cervical cancer screening should only be offered through organised screening programmes.

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© 2009 European Cervical Cancer Association