Cervical Cancer Prevention Week: 22nd-28th January

A proven way to prevent cervical cancer is to have cervical screening to find pre-cancers before they can turn into invasive cancer. This is called a smear test and every woman over the age of 25 who is registered at a GP is invited to have one every 3 years; if you’re younger you can still make a request through your GP.

Cervical screening prevents 75% of cervical cancers from developing which is why three quarters of women attend screenings when invited. Getting that final quarter of women that don’t currently turn up for testing is the goal for Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, which this year runs from 22-28 January.

Everyday in the UK 9 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3 women lose their lives to it. There are brilliant charities like Jo’s Trust and Eve Appeal doing fantastic work to help change those statistics. You can find more information online about the signs and symptoms of the disease and how to prevent it.