Stockton North MP, Alex Cunningham is supporting Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust this Cervical Cancer Prevention Week.
This week Alex Cunningham MP and Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust are raising awareness about how women can reduce their risk of cervical cancer. Over 3,200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year in the UK, yet it is one of the only cancers that can be prevented and one day become a disease of the past.
Cervical screening (smear tests) are the best protection against the disease, followed by the HPV vaccine offered in schools. Yet cervical screening uptake is at a 21-year low in England. It is at just 71.4%, meaning that more than one in four women are not booking a potentially life-saving test.
In Stockton and across the Tees Valley, more women that the national average get a cervical screening however with one in four women missing out more needs to be done to increase the take up levels.
This week Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust has published new research which has found young women who delay or don’t go for cervical screening feel scared (71%), vulnerable (75%) and embarrassed (81%) at the thought of going. A worrying two thirds (67%) say they would not feel in control at the prospect of a test (full details are here: https://www.jostrust.org.uk/node/1076499)
