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

Nearly 14% of those 65 and over tested positive for high-risk HPV infection types, compared with 8% of those who were younger. Photograph: David Davies/PA

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).