One in five women don't attend smear tests

24th November 2011 - New figures on NHS cervical cancer screening in England show one in five women don't take up their invitations to have smear tests. The charity Jo's Trust says more worrying is that for under 35s, more than one in three do not go for smear tests.

The charity says three women die from cervical cancer each day in the UK and one woman is diagnosed with the condition every three hours. Cervical screening saves around 4,500 lives in England each year.

Women are offered screening every three or five years depending on their age. Women aged 25-49 are invited every three years and those aged 50-64 are invited every five years.

Cervical screening statistics

• 4.3 million women aged 25 to 64 were invited for a screening test in 2010-11, compared to 4.1 million in the previous year.
• 3.4 million women were tested in 2010-11, compared to 3.3 million in the previous year.
• The percentage of eligible women screened at least once in the last five years fell to 78.6% from 79.5% in 2006.

'Worrying'

Robert Music, director of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, says in a statement: "These new figures are a big concern.

"A downward trend is emerging which we need to reverse. Screening picks up abnormalities which can develop into cervical cancer. As coverage falls, we are likely to see cases of cervical cancer rise."

The charity is particularly concerned that more than 37% of women aged 25-29 have not been tested for more than three years. It says cervical cancer rates among women in their 20s are rising at a time when the overall cervical cancer cases are falling.

Reasons for missing smear test appointments

Polling for Jo's Trust released earlier this year pointed to a lack of flexibility by employers and GPs in enabling women to attend cervical screening. Many women blamed a lack of appointment choices and difficulty getting time off work.

There was also embarrassment at talking to employers about screening tests, with some women taking days off for their tests instead.

Awareness of the need for screening also appeared to be lower in some ethnic minority groups, including Asian women.

Earlier results

The NHS is stressing a positive message from the figures, saying more than four out of five women who do attend cervical screening now get their results within two weeks.

In a statement, NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan says: "It shows women in England are being sent their cervical screening results faster than before; with the percentage of results sent out within two weeks rising sharply in a year."

HPV jabs

Jo's Trust hopes the uptake of the HPV vaccine offered to schoolgirls continues to be high as this protects against 70% of cervical cancers.

If at least 80% of girls continue to have the vaccine, it says cervical cancer cases could be reduced by two thirds in women under 30 by 2025.