Dr. Colm Henry:

The main clinical risk is that of anxiety from waiting. Cervical cancer happens to be very slow growing. In many cases, it takes ten to 15 years to develop. My colleague, Dr. McKenna, gave evidence at another hearing and he described the exceedingly low chance, although not negligible, that harm would result as a consequence of the delay and that the intervention would have changed. That is not to take from the distress and anxiety that the delays cause for women.