Lab tests for cervical cancer screening

Posted On: February 28, 2025

As of March 2025, the Ontario Cervical Screening Program (OCSP) will replace the PAP test with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) testing as the initial screening test for cervical cancer. Registrants of the College of Naturopaths of Ontario do not have the authority to order HPV testing.

The Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act, 1990 allows for registrants to continue to have the authority to order the following:

• Cervicovaginal cellular evaluation (Pap smear)
• Smear only, Gram or Papanicolaou stain

Any questions about the collection devices used for cervical cytology and the cytology testing offered to naturopaths by Ontario laboratories should be directed to the laboratory.

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