The little letter arrives through your door. It joins the pile of letters on your dining table – unopened envelopes wanting to be read.
Life goes on. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.
A text reminder, perhaps another letter.
Yet ANOTHER thing to do, you think.
Work, kids, school, family, shopping, meal prepping, exercise (yeah, right!)…and oh yes, your partner needs attention too….sigh……
Another text reminder – opened, read and ignored.
Its so easy to forget to attend for your 3 yearly screening tests. Life is busy and there is a lot to do. I hear you!!
Did you know that cervical screening could LITERALLY save your life? Cervical cancer is 100% preventable! Unfortunately, around 30% of women do not attend when called to go for their smear test. (NHS England 2024).
Your smear test literally consists of a quick (slightly uncomfortable) examination to take some cells from your cervix using a small brush. The sample is sent to the lab to look for any pre-cancerous (‘dodgy looking’) cells. If these are found, they can be treated quickly and easily in a Colposcopy department at your local hospital. For the majority of women, your smear test will be normal and you will receive a letter specifying when you will be called for your next smear test.
Women between 25 and 50 are called every 3 years, women 50-65 are called every 5 years. There may be slight variations if you have had treatments to your cervix in the past or if you’ve had pre-cancerous cells detected.
Unfortunately, most of the women I see in my specialist clinic with suspected/confirmed cervical cancer have not attended for their smear tests in years. The pre-cancerous cells have been left unchecked, unregulated and untreated.
The NHS has pledged to eliminate (yes, thats right!) cervical cancer by 2040. For this to be achieved, 80% of women need to attend for their cervical screening appointments.
Please remember to attend for your smear test.
It could save your life.
Here’s a presentation I gave to the Carribean and African Health Network on this very topic. Enjoy!