A new national cancer screening programme aims to reduce the number of cervical cancer cases by 75 per cent, Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said yesterday.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Fearne said some 33,000 women aged between 35 and 50 would be receiving invitations to undergo smear tests at health centres across the island.

The invitations, 11,000 of which have already been sent out, are to be signed and returned to the National Screening Centre at Lascaris Wharf, Valletta. An appointment for a test will then be set.

Mr Fearne said from 10 to 15 women contracted cervical cancer in Malta every year resulting in around five deaths annually. The hope, however, was to reduce the incidence of the cancer to around three cases per year. If caught early,treatment was largely successful. Stephanie Xuereb from the National Screening Unit said the programme was based on EU guidelines, meaning the tests would be free and standardised. Some 300 tests have been conducted.

Similar programmes introduced across the EU had seen a reduction of around 70 per cent in cases, with an increased reduction annually, she said.