21/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - At a press conference on the margins of the EP's plenary session, Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP, the Netherlands) launched a campaign by 'European Women for HPV Testing" (which included famous women like Danielle Mitterand, Sonia Rykiel, Flavia Franzoni Prodi, Katarina Witt, Nicole Fontaine and various MEPs) calling on the European Commission to introduce HPV testing in its upcoming recommendation on cancer screening. Ernst Rainer Weissenbacher, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Munich, the test detects the human palillomavirus (HPV), the acknowledged cause of cervical cancer. Prof. Weissenbacher says the new test is more effective than the smear tests done at present (which detect no more than 28% of cancers, rather than 100% for HPV).
European Parliament Plenary session