A knowledge gap around cervical screenings is currently “costing lives”, a cancer charity says. The Eve Appeal says more women need to know they can ask for adjustments to their cervical screenings, which can be painful, uncomfortable or distressing for some.
The test is thought to save about 5,000 lives every year in the UK, but many women do not get tested. Research commissioned by the charity suggests most women do not know they can make the test easier by asking for longer appointments, smaller speculums, or moving to more comfortable positions.
Eve Hewitt, a young woman from Cambridgeshire, who has Crohn’s disease and vaginal scarring from surgery, said she asks for her screenings to be adjusted because of potential pain and bleeding. She said: “If I don’t go in prepared and ready to advocate for myself, there is a lot of anxiety about the pain that could happen.”
Women can ask for screening adjustments such as moving to more comfortable positions for the test, asking for it to stop at any time if they are in discomfort, booking double appointments, asking for lubrication to be used, inserting or guiding the speculum themselves, or bringing along a friend for support.
Eve Appeal chief executive Athena Lamnisos said: “There are really simple, straightforward things that you can ask for that patients just aren’t aware of. You can take control.”
According to the latest NHS England data, more than five million eligible women are not up to date with their routine cervical screening, with the lowest uptake being among women aged between 25 and 29 (58%).
NHS England aims to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, with the use of cervical screening and the HPV vaccine, which is cutting cases of cervical cancer by 90% in England.
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