HEALTH bosses are encouraging women from Scarborough and across the region to attend their routine cervical screening appointment.
NHS North Yorkshire and York has seen a gradual decline in the uptake of cervical screening within all age groups, but particularly in women aged 25 to 29.
Jill Wass, public health nurse, said: “Cervical cancer can often be prevented. We want to e
ncourage women who have missed their appointments to come forward and be screened.
“After breast cancer, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women aged 35 and under.
“Screening is a quick and easy test which can be carried out by practice nurses, GPs or at your local family planning clinic.
“We are particularly appealing to women in their late 20s to attend their first appointment as we’ve found that if they don’t attend early appointments it often means they do not engage with the programme later in life.”
More than 12,000 women put their lives at risk last year by not attending their routine screening appointment. Of these women 42 per cent were aged 25-29.
Experts have found that many women who develop cervical cancer have either not been screened regularly or have not attended for follow up appointments.
Every year in the UK, over 2,800 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 1,000 women will die from the disease.
