JRG67

I had to have a smear test every year before summer camp to check that I didn't have cervical cancer.
It was also standard practice to be tested for AIDS and any STDs before spending 6 weeks away from the oldies.
I just grinned and bore it.

dlake02

That is 5 years now in the UK....

AmerLisa

Scary

GeoffM

All of them, at least if you go to Kaiser. DS at 4 years old just looked bemused when they did his a few months ago. Certainly nothing to be scared of. They even do different size cuffs for different sized people. If you're an adult then you get the weight and BP every time you visit. I can't understand why but my BP has gone from borderline high to perfectly normal over the last few months.

Anyway, just do it for the kid. If it's the normal thing in the US then just roll with it. Summer camp is a fantastic experience for the kids (having seen it from the counselor side many years ago) and fear of a ten minute once-over could literally ruin the summer if he's not allowed to go.

Weeze

That's a awfully long time for an undetectable cancer to go untreated for. Especially as I, like most women, delay the exams anyway.

JRG67

The Nazis and the Swedish were very keen on collecting physical data...

dlake02

Having been a Scouter in the UK, no, there is NO requirement for medical records for Scouts. To ask and then deny access would be discriminatory and I could be sued on that basis.

There IS a requirement to disclose any communicable diseases, but those would be picked-up at school anyway - after all, Scouts is a 1-day-per-weke activity whereas school is compulsory for all children between 5 and 16, soon to be 18. So, any medical issues are going to be picked up at school, reported via the local council's Public Health service and find their way back to the NHS.

One of my relatives is a Public Health Doctor - he spends his time working with schools, colleges, etc to identify trends in infection and ensure that any remedial action is taken before there is mass infection (for example the Swine Flu epidemic).

The NHS National Records system holds all patients medical and immunisation history - it is donkey's years late, but virtually there now (it was due to go live in 1998 - that is how behind we are).

Weeze

Godwin!!!!

JRG67

There is a vaccine now, which women can take as soon as they are sexually active, to prevent cervical cancer. So there will e no need for smear tests in the future.

dlake02

Incidence of cervical cancer and clear-up rates have been steadily improving in the UK and EU mostly due to lifestyle changes. As I say, preventative only works if you get everyone that is at risk, and unfortunately, that tends to be the poorest in society that tend not to get checked.

scrubbedexpat097

Not true.

kodokan

Absolutely agree with this. My kids went to a Western-themed two-week camp, with horse riding, archery, camp craft, ton of other sports and crafts, etc. They had the most fabulous time, and matured enormously by the time we picked them up (they were 12 and 8; we were a bit unsure about the 8 yr old, for two weeks! but she assured us she would be fine. She was )

Honestly, don't make him miss it because you want to make a stand. All the other kids will be talking about it, and he'll feel horribly left out. If he explains he couldn't go because he didn't want to/ his parents wouldn't let him take a basic medical, the other kids will just think he's weird: when in Rome, and all that...

Mr Weeze

Err, no it didn't. School checks in the 90s in the UK. I was there, I remember!

scrubbedexpat097

Exactly. Whingeing about something that is not harming someone and may prove helpful is ridiculous.

JRG67

It is true. Google Dr Ryo Konno. He helped develop it in the States. It is available from this year in Japan.