One in Six Skipping Cervical Cancer Test
NHS Derbyshire County is urging women aged between 25 and 64 to get tested for cervical cancer after new national figures show screening rates have hit a ten-year low.
Health bosses are also highlighting that one in six women in Derbyshire failed to take advantage of NHS screening tests last year, which have reduced cervical cancer cases by 42 per cent since they were first introduced.
Take-up of the national cervical cancer screening programme has been in decline for the past few years, with NHS Derbyshire County saying that 1,000 fewer women have had the test across Derby and Derbyshire over the past three years compared to between 2008 and 2009 when figures surged following the death of Jade Goody from the illness. This is despite the fact that more women are now eligible for the screening programme due to changes in population size.
Now they are pleading with women not to miss or delay tests as early detection through screening, followed by treatment, can prevent up to 75 per cent of these cells turning into cancer.
Julie Yapp, cancer screening coordinator for NHS Derbyshire County, said: “Every day eight women in England are diagnosed with cervical cancer and three are lost to the disease.
“But these precious lives – like Jade’s – could be saved through a simple, five-minute test.”
According to Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, some women miss or delay tests because of work commitments, while others book time off work because they are too embarrassed to discuss it with their bosses.
“So I’d urge anyone who remembers the ‘Jade Goody effect’ to think twice before they dismiss their cervical cancer screening invite – as fears and excuses can be put on hold, but treatment for cancer cannot.”
Women are invited to attend cervical cancer screening appointments every three or five years, depending on which screening age group they fall under. Between 2010 and 2011 244,300 women aged 25 to 64 were eligible for the test in Derby and Derbyshire – with 201,950 taking up the offer within the last five years. This compares to 202,930 women in 2008 and 2009 out of a population of 242,300.
The screening test is carried out in GP surgeries and health clinics.
Further information can be found at www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/
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