SVT News has previously stated that more than half of Sweden's regions have chosen to pause their cell samples due to the coronavirus. This is despite the fact that the number of cases of cervical cancer has increased over the past five years and is now at the same levels as before the screening was introduced in Sweden - over 50 years ago. 

Now, the National Board of Health and Welfare announces that the regions should be able to offer women self-test for HPV, the virus that causes cell changes that can lead to cancer.

HPV self-sampling means that you collect vaginal fluid yourself with a sampling stick, and then send the sample by mail to a laboratory. It is thus a different type of specimen than that taken from the womb of a midwife. 

"With the help of experts in the field, we have judged that the health benefits of offering this tool also outweigh any disadvantages," says Thomas Lindén, Head of Department at the National Board of Social Affairs during a press conference. 

According to an analysis conducted by the National Board of Health, gynecological cell sampling has been temporarily paused in 13 regions and reduced in five more, which has attracted criticism from experts and patient organizations and is expected to lead to more cases of cervical cancer.

The temporary regulations mean that the regions can offer all women between the ages of 23-64 to test for HPV at home, if they cannot be called regular sampling because of the pandemic. They start to apply in mid-July this year and are valid until June 2021.

Since 2015, the National Board of Health has recommended that women who are 30 years and older should be tested primarily for human papillomavirus, HPV, in their gynecological cell test. This is because it is a more sensitive test, which can find a new group of women, those with residual HPV without cell changes.

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