Uptake of cervical cancer screening is at a ten-year low, campaigners revealed as they launched an awareness week.
It is believed the dramatic fall in numbers marks the end of the “Jade Goody effect”, which caused a dramatic rise in the number of women being screened for the disease following the death of the reality TV star in 2009.
Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, the UK’s only charity dedicated to women affected by cervical cancer and cervical abnormalities, said with the exception of the dramatic rise in 2009 figures have declined year on year since 2002, culminating in a three per cent drop in screening uptake to 78.6 per cent over the past 10 years.
Although the screening programme saves 5,000 lives each year in the UK, 20 per cent of women do not attend their appointment.
More than one in five women between the ages of 25 and 64, and one in three aged below 35, have not had their screening, while the numbers of women over 50 having screening dropped below 80 per cent in 2010 for the first time and fell further in 2011.
Now, to mark national Cervical Screening Awareness Week (June 10-16), the charity is urging more women to attend their screening appointment.
Robert Music, Director of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: “Every day eight women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and three lives are lost to the disease. Cervical screening can help reduce these numbers.”
Three surveys – aimed at women of screening age, the over 50s and women from BME communities – have pointed to a number of issues that lead women to ignore their appointments.
Some women said they found it difficult to arrange an appointment for screening around their work schedules and claimed that more flexibility from GPs around appointment times would encourage them to make it more of a priority.
Other found it difficult to understand the information they received, while others did not believe the test was relevant to them.
The YouGov survey 2011 found that one-third of women from BME communities had never attended a screening appointment.
“These women are not getting the right support and information or they are simply not being reached at all,” said Mr Music.
“This is particularly true of BME communities, where we see a greater lack of awareness which may lead to fewer numbers being screened compared to white women. This is something that needs to be urgently addressed.
“Another major contributing factor to women not attending is embarrassment and fear of the procedure. We want to reverse this trend by reassuring those who are nervous about the test that it’s a simple five minute procedure that could save their life.
“It’s clear that a job needs to be done for more targeted campaigns to reach individual groups of women with the relevant information and reassurance that will encourage them to attend.”
Details about Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust can be found at www.jostrust.org.uk. For its national helpline call 0808 802 8000.
Leave a Reply