UK cervical cancer screening uptake sees decline

A new report has indicated that the percentage of women going for cervical cancer screening has fallen in the last decade.

Published in The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, the study indicated that although the UK's cervical screening programme has reduced cervical cancer mortality rates by 60 to 70 percent in the last 30 years, screening uptake rates have fallen by 3.1 percentage points from 2004-05 to 2014-15.

Take-up rates of cervical screening have fell from 80.3 percent to 77.2 percent during this time, with only 63 percent of women in the UK aged 25 to 29 going for a smear test in 2014.

Overall, one in five women between the ages of 25 and 64 have missed out on testing, rising to one in three among those aged below 35.

Professor Clare McKenzie, consultant gynaecologist and vice-president for education at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said: "We strongly encourage women to accept their invitation to cervical screening when they receive it. Women who are worried about screening or symptoms of cervical cancer should seek advice from their GP."

Just over 3,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK, with more than half of these being women under the age of 45.