Cervical screening fall hits hope of cancer eradication

THE NHS's ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 is under threat after the uptake for screening fell for a third year in a row.

- Hanna Geissler

Latest figures show just 68.7% of eligible women aged 25 to 64 went for smear tests in 2022-23, down from 69.9% the previous year.

Attendance has failed to recover from the impact of the pandemic with a 72.2% take-up of appointments in 2019-20.

Anxiety

Some 4.62 million women who qualified for screening were invited last year and 3.34 million booked a smear test.

The proportion of women up to date with checks ranged from 77% in Derbyshire to less than half in Camden, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster in London.