cervical screening
Ahead of the final instalment of the Channel 4 documentary, a charity is urging viewers not to shame women who are nervous about cervical screening.
Two in five did not receive their results within the recommended two weeks.
On 22 March 2009, TV personality Jade Goody died from cervical cancer. Before she died, she was a vocal campaigner for smear tests and encouraged thousands of women to go to screenings. But a decade later, the number of women going to screenings is at a 20-year-low and two women are still dying from the disease every day.
The tests have already boosted uptake in the Netherlands.
Women think HPV is 'dirty' or 'embarrassing', when it's actually extremely common.
"All women have a right to be kept as safe as possible."
Women have been forced to wait longer than the recommended 14 days for their results.
“It’s just weird – a bit of an odd feeling.”
Recent figures show that cervical screening rates among all ages are at their lowest for two decades. Almost one in three women aged 25 to 64 have not had a smear test within the time frame the NHS recommends. Many women do not feel comfortable going for the pap smear, even though the checks have shown to dramatically reduce the chance of developing cervical cancer. Learn more about what the test entails and how often you need to go.
New research suggests there will soon be alternatives – more options for screening can only improve accessibility