References

Falcaro M, Castañon A, Ndlela B The effects of the national HPV vaccination programme in England, UK, on cervical cancer and grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia incidence: a register-based observational study. Lancet. 2021; 398:(10316)2084-2092 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02178-4

UK Health Security Agency. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage estimates in England: 2021 to 2022. 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/human-papillomavirus-hpv-vaccine-coverage-estimates-in-england-2021-to-2022 (accessed 25 January 2023)

UK Health Security Agency. Concern over drop in HPV vaccine coverage among secondary school pupils. 2023. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/concern-over-drop-in-hpv-vaccine-coverage-among-secondary-school-pupils (accessed 25 January 2023)

Dale CE, Takhar R, Carragher R The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular disease prevention and management. Nat Med. 2023; 29:219-225 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02158-7

News

02 February 2023
News Focus
02 February 2023
Volume 34 · Issue 2

Around 4.6 million women have not come forward for their latest cervical screening, figures from NHS England show. This comes after the NHS sent out a record number of invites in 2021/22 – over 5 million which was up by 10.5% on pre-pandemic levels. Jo's Trust (2023) state that screening coverage across the UK is at its lowest level in 20 years.

In the UK, around 3200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, with 2 women a day dying from the disease (Jo's Trust, 2023). Screening involves taking a small sample of cells from the cervix and looking for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) that could develop into cervical cancer if left untreated.

National Clinical Director for Cancer, Professor Peter Johnson, highlighted the barriers to screening: ‘There are lots of reasons why somebody might not want to come forward – embarrassment, inconvenience, or uncertainty.’

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