Women who have missed their cervical screening test in England, which is offered to 24- 64-year-olds every 5 years, will now have the option to self-test from home.
The new initiative comes as a third of women who are eligible for cervical screening have not made use of the service in recent years. Dr Sue Mann, National Clinical Director for Women’s Health at NHS England, says there are many reasons that might prevent individuals from getting their screening, including embarrassment, worries about discomfort or lack of time.
NHS England has already started rolling out these self-testing kits from Tuesday this week (25 August). They will be offering these kits first to eligible women between 30 and 65. This means 4 million will be contacted through either the NHS app, text, email or letter to order a free at-home kit.
The self-testing kits are designed to detect the HPV virus, which can cause cervical cancer.
The NHS have trialled the scheme in London, which was run by North London cancer alliances in collaboration with NHS England and King’s College London in 2021, which led to a 400,000-person uptake.
Dr Sue Mann adds: “Screening saves thousands of lives each year by preventing cancers and catching them earlier, but only around two-thirds of women are attending cervical screening appointments when invited by the NHS.
“Offering millions of women an alternative test they can do from the comfort of their own homes will be a gamechanger – making it easier than ever for them to get tested for HPV.”
How do the at-home kits work?
Each kit will contain a swab which will need to be used to collect a sample from the vagina. This sample will then need to be sent back to the NHS (for free). The sample will then be screened for high-risk HPV. If this is detected, patients will then be asked to arrange a further cervical screening.
Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper said, “Cervical cancer is preventable – but that’s why we want to make it as easy and convenient as possible for women to keep up with their screening.”
The NHS hope to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
