AFP - Days after controversy erupted over new breast cancer screening guidelines, a US health group has said women should wait longer to get their first cervical cancer test.

The New York Times reported Friday that the American College of Obstetricians is now advising women to wait until age 21 to get their first Pap smear.

The advice is intended to cut down on unnecessary testing and reduce the risk of harmful invasive procedures to remove non-cancerous lesions that may show up on tests but often disappear if left alone, the group said.

The new recommendations overturn previous guidance, which suggested women should be tested yearly starting within three years of their first sexual intercourse.

In addition to waiting longer for a first test, the group said women over 30 with three consecutive normal test results can wait for three years before their next Pap.

The advice is likely to stir fierce debate as it comes shortly after controversial new guidelines for breast cancer screening that said women should get fewer mammograms.

That advice was roundly rejected by many in the medical community and US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the recommendations would not be binding.

Cheryl Iglesia, the chairwoman of a panel that developed the cervical screening guidelines, told the Times that the timing was an unfortunate coincidence.

"There's no political agenda with regard to these recommendations," she said.

Her group has actually opposed cutting mammograms, but warns that overuse of Pap tests can result in doctors performing unneccesary and potentially harmful surgeries to remove non-cancerous cervical abnormalities that are commonly found in young women.

The two sets of guidelines have stirred an added level of controversy coming as they do while President Barack Obama's administration is attempting to push through health care reform.

Republicans have argued that such recommendations would become mandatory if Obama's reform efforts pass, a charge roundly rejected by Democrats.