Cancer concern around missed screenings and vaccine uptake

One in three people across the UK are overdue their cervical cancer screening, while in parts of England some women are at greater risk of cervical cancer owing to a low uptake for the HPV vaccine that prevents it, experts have warned.

- Tobi Thomas

Since the coronavirus pandemic, cervical screening attendance rates have been steadily declining, from 72.2% in 2020, to 68.4% in 2024, NHS England data shows.

A YouGov survey of 3,000 people across the UK eligible for cervical cancer screening, commissioned by Cancer Research UK, is in line with these findings, with 30% of respondents being overdue their screening.

It also highlighted the main barriers people cited as to why they were overdue a screening, with 42% of respondents finding cervical screening painful previously, 40% not wanting a man to carry out the screening test, and 19% of respondents saying they were too embarrassed to go for a screening.