Cervical cancer rates ‘to halve by 2050’

CERVICAL cancer rates in Britain will be slashed in half by 2050 and eliminated by the end of the century, experts have calculated.

New highly-sensitive smear tests, being rolled out to the NHS this year, will boost the number of cases detected before they turn into cancer, which kills 1,000 Britons a year.

And the HPV vaccine for schoolgirls, introduced to Britain a decade ago, will soon start to prevent cancers by the thousand.

A report published in the Lancet Oncology journal last night predicts the new developments will prevent 13million cervical cancer cases worldwide in the next 30 years. In Britain, the rate will be halved from the current 8.4 in 100,000 women to 4 in 100,000 by 2050.

Professor Karen Canfell, who led the report by the Cancer Council New South Wales in Sydney, said: ‘Despite the enormity of the problem, our findings suggest that global elimination is within reach with tools that are already available.’