Cancer screening slump

21-yr low ‘puts 1.3m women at risk of cervical disease’

A MILLION women are at risk of cervical cancer as screening rates hit a 21-year low.

Figures from NHS Digital show just 71.4% of women in England got them in the target time frame.

And Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust said screening is at its lowest level since recording began in 1997.

It says of 4.46 million women aged 25 to 64 invited for a test in 2017/18, 1.3 million did not have one. The charity’s Robert Music said women are being “let down”, adding: “We cannot let cervical screening coverage continue to plummet or diagnoses will rise.”

A cervical screening test, previously known as a smear test, detects abnormal cells on the cervix. The latest data shows it is the fourth consecutive year screening levels have declined, falling from 82% in 1997.

Increases were last seen in 2009-10 and dubbed the “Jade Goody effect”.

Uptake rose after the reality star revealed she had the disease, dying soon afterwards aged 27. AWARENESS Star Goody