• About Pap tests or Pap smears
• Who should have Pap tests or Pap smears?
• Vaccinated women
• Pregnant women
• Older women
• After hysterectomy
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
• Culturally and linguistically diverse women
• Women with disabilities
• Lesbians
• Victim/survivors of sexual assault
• The human papillomavirus (HPV)
• The cervical cancer vaccine
• Abnormal Pap test (or Pap smear) results and treatment
• Cervical cancer

After hysterectomy

Some women who have had a hysterectomy may need to continue having Pap tests.

It depends on the type of hysterectomy, the reason for the hysterectomy and the woman's Pap test history prior to surgery.

Women will still need regular Pap tests or vaginal smears (where a cell sample is taken from the top of the vagina) if they:

• still have a cervix
  
• had a hysterectomy as part of treatment for a gynaecological cancer (e.g. cervical, ovarian, endometrial or vaginal cancer)
  
• have ever had a significant abnormality detected on a Pap test or have never had a Pap test.

If you have had a hysterectomy, ask your doctor whether you still need to have Pap tests.

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