Under India's national programme for population-based cancer screening, a woman found to be normal on screening for cervical cancer should be rescreened after:

• A 1 year
• B 3 years
• C Once in a lifetime at 40 years of age
• D 5 years ✓

Explanation

The Indian operational framework recommends screening women aged 30 to 49 years for cervical cancer once every 5 years. The 3-year interval applies to cytology-based Pap smear programmes in some international guidelines, which makes it the classic distractor, but the Indian programme uses a 5-year cycle regardless of whether VIA or HPV DNA testing is the screening modality used.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.