Changes in the Belgian cervical cancer screening program from January 2025

In December 2024, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) announced changes in the cervical cancer screening program starting from January 1, 2025. The key change is that in people aged 30 to 64 years, an HPV (Human Papillomavirus) test will be the primary for cervical cancer screening instead of a cytological examination. For this age group, HPV tests will be reimbursed every five years.

The cervical cancer screening program will include the following:

• For people under 25 years, there is no longer any reimbursed screening test;
• For people aged 25 to 29, cytological examination every three calendar years remains recommended as a screening test and is reimbursed. In this age group, HPV infections are common but generally resolve spontaneously. Primary HPV screening would give many false-positive results in this group, leading to unnecessary additional examinations and overtreatment;
• For people aged 30 to 64, primary HPV screening every five calendar years is recommended and reimbursed. High-risk HPV types 16 and 18 are mandatory. If the test is positive, additional cytology is performed, and the triage algorithm is followed with or without colposcopy;
• For people aged over 64, a single catch-up or exit screening can be performed and reimbursed if no screening has been reimbursed in the last 10 years. In this case, co-testing is recommended because the quality of cytology decreases with age.

See the full details here.

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