4% of Pap tests conducted by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) are suspected to have precancerous and cancerous conditions.
When test results have any alteration, it is inmediately informed to the specific area of health in order to look for the patients and provide them the appropriate approach: confirmation of diagnosis and treatment.
As part of quality controls, authorities always take some negative tests and review them in order to raise the quality standards of the samples.
An average of 1,800 daily tests are processed by the National Center of Cytology of the CCSS.
According to Rodrigo Alvárez, director of the department, the existence of the National Center for Cytology has been vital to reduce mortality from cervical cancer by 43%.
One of the improvements that is being carried out is the analysis inclusion in the Digital Health Record (EDUS), which would improve the traceability of the samples so that the general practitioner can know at what stage of the process it is and what is the best treatment.