This poor girl appears to have died from cervical cancer following delayed diagnosis. She apparently presented at her GPs surgery asking for a smear test, but was denied one on the basis that she was too young for it to be warranted. Since her death, her family are campaigning for smear tests to be offered to all girls from 16 up.
When someone dies, I understand families are desperate to make that death meaningful, and campaigns like this seem like a good idea, but there are so many holes in this story that I'm amazed it's made it anywhere near a newspaper. It's also floating its way around Facebook.
Firstly, smear testing is incredibly unreliable in under 25s, to the point where any results are pretty meaningless. Secondly, it's not a test for cancer, it's a test for abnormal cells in a population with no symptoms. Anyone who has symptoms, as Sophie did, should be offered something completely different (I'm not sure whether she was offered this or not, which is something they would have every right to be angry about if not) in order to look for cervical cancer. Why has no one pointed this out to the campaigners? Or if they have, why is there a petition for this?
I'm not sure whether I'm more cross about the 130,000 odd signatures from people who are advocating action on something that they don't really understand, or the appalling media mis-reporting, which suggests smear tests would have helped. Honestly, why do people think that their opinion should have any bearing on health policy? I don't think my opinion should have any bearing on agricultural policy, for example, because I know naff all about it. Why is health so different?
AIBU to be cross with the media and the starters of this campaign (although slightly more sympathetic with these) for starting a campaign based on very little evidence, knowing that gp surgeries across the country are now going to be inundated with requests from the worried well?
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
AIBU?
AIBU to be really pee'd off about the Sophie Jones petition?
70 replies
creampie · 18/03/2014 22:04
OP posts:
Flicktheswitch ·
19/03/2014 06:46
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.