CervicalCheck Scandal- Health Service Failing Women

It’s important to take into account on International Women’s Day the misogyny that exists in a capitalist society in terms of healthcare and specifically the Irish healthcare system which is criminally underfunded and has been for years. An example of this and the way it has failed women is the cervical cancer scandal that came to light in 2018.

Multiple women were kept in the dark when it was discovered that their CervicalCheck results which were previously said to be negative has been discovered to be positive and this was kept from them for years, resulting in the deaths of multiple women. This is a result of our national cervical screening programme outsourcing these laboratory tests at the cheapest price possible. Because of our healthcare being subject to capitalism and the market, profit and saving money was put above the lives of these women and countless others whose tests were handled incorrectly by CervicalCheck and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

After it came to light to the HSE that these results were incorrect, they waited for over a year to tell these women, afraid of backlash at their methods, which stopped these women from treating an illness they weren’t aware they had.

Women’s health, especially in terms of something that kills such high numbers of women in Ireland every year, should not be subject to profit or cheap alternatives for our government in a country where we already have an entirely underfunded and incapable healthcare system. The government and HSE should be held accountable.  We need to fight for a socialist society in which healthcare and the safety of women’s health does not come beneath profit in the eyes of a capitalist government.

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