Objective:

To assess the impact of HPV testing on longstanding problems faced by screening programs in Latin America, using the case of the Jujuy Demonstration Project (JDP) in Argentina.

Materials and methods:

The study measured the level of impact produced by the introduction of HPV-testing on problems faced by cytology programs by analyzing modifications on specific problems produced during the JDP. Impact was classified as direct/indirect, and positive/ negative.

Results:

Direct/positive impact was found in issues concerning age and screening frequency, cytology laboratories and screening sensitivity, and low coverage. Direct/negative impact was mainly related to the adherence to triage cytology by HPV+ women with self-collected-tests, and the delivery and labelling of samples. Indirect impact of HPV-Test was mostly positive, and related to the programmatic reorganization which was facilitated by the introduction of HPV testing.

Conclusions:

HPV testing provides an opportunity window for improving primary screening, but does not solve programmatic problems.