OBJECTIVES: An organised cervical cancer screening programme is implemented in the Czech Republic. A pilot study was conducted to increase participation through directly mailed self-sampling HPV kits (HPVssk) among older women who do not participate in screening. This study aimed to perform an economic model-based evaluation of the costs and benefits of this screening intervention.

METHODS: The study recruited 4,813 eligible women (aged 50–65 years, with no screening in the last three years or more and no previous treatment associated with cervical lesions or cancer). Based on the patient-level data from the pilot study and the Czech National Health Information System, costs and essential characteristics of the screening process through HPVssk, and lifetime costs of cervical cancer treatment according to stages and phases of the disease were estimated and entered into a model simulating the potential natural history of the disease according to HPV genotype. The primary outcome was a cost-benefit analysis of the screening intervention.

RESULTS: The total cost of the direct mailing HPVssk within the pilot project was 49,625 EUR. Thus, from the model evaluation, 12,208 EUR was spent per one prevented cervical cancer. Through direct mailing HPVssk, cervical cancers were prevented, and the total estimated savings per treatment for women participating in the pilot study was approximately 117,500 EUR. After deducting the total cost of the direct mailing HPVssk, this strategy still appears to be cost-saving.

CONCLUSIONS: The direct mailing of HPVssk appears to be a potentially cost-saving method, which could be considered as an alternative to the standard invitation to physician-offered cervical cancer screening.