I’ve never had a smear test and I don’t want one either

That’s not how statistics work. If the NHS is not testing my sample because I don’t have HPV then I have not been screened for cervical cancer. Because again, a smear test is no longer a cancer screening.

You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to do.

But your risk increases if you’ve been sexually active.

If you’ve never been sexually active in your life, then your risk would be very low and it probably isn’t worth it.

Sorry I have a typo.
earlier I said
“So a negative test is proof you have never caught HPV.”

that should be ISNT proof.

I mean, you’re extremely stupid, but it’s entirely your prerogative. My friend died in 2022. She was 38. Her children were 2 and 4. She missed a smear test during COVID, and now she’s dead.

Oh ok, you make a very good point. I must admit, I didn’t consider that. Thank you for countering my point respectfully 🙂

I think living in a country where we are 90% less likely to have cervical cancer go undetected is pretty amazing.

I just wish they could do the same for other types of cancer too.

And of course roll it out for free worldwide.

Hopefully in our lifetimes we’ll have more tests like smear tests that can detect early signs and less people will die from the horrible disease that is cancer.

I never did either

Does anyone know if you have to do smear test if you’ve never been sexually active?

It’s not 99.7% any more
The HPV vaccine preventing loads of HPV caused cervical cancers means that the % share of HPV independent cancers has gone up to around 8-12% depending on the study.

That’s what we keep being told yet this thread is full of people saying they had no HPV and abnormal changes were picked up. This is what worries me.

Plus I was on a thread on Facebook where this was being discussed a little while back and it’s been even more worrying for those women who had cells removed in the past but now their samples won’t be tested despite their history because they don’t have HPV. The system will basically just spit their result back out and no cells checked even if someone makes a note about it

But those aren't the only two possibilities

Yes that is a problem, but you’re looking at it in a glass half full way.
The HPV test catches 90% of cervical cancers, refusing the test means 0% cervical cancers caught. I know which option I would choose from a pure statistical standpoint.

Hell, mammograms don’t even catch 100% of breast cancers. You wouldn’t skip that because it’s also not perfect would you?

Money. There's not enough of it

99.7 % of cervical cancers are caused by HPV. The NHS has made a reasonable cost based decision on risk v reward. By not looking at the cells, they free up the money from pathology labs, equipment and staff to be used elsewhere in the system. I worked in a hospital pathology lab 20 years ago. A massive room of people looking down microscopes all day, stacks of slides to check. And the room next door for the processing of the samples onto those slides. The wage cost of that alone! The NHS couldn't justify continuing to spend millions every year to look at cell changes under microscopes in order to catch 0.3% of cervical cancers, it's not reasonable. That money can be used elsewhere in healthcare to greater effect

So you want to know whether you are being unreasonable, but you don't want us to bombard you with a differing viewpoint? In other words you want us to vote YANBU and not discuss it at all.

I had breast cancer three years ago, I almost didn’t go to the doctor to get the lump checked because no one and I meant no one in my family has ever had cancer, I’m the First
So don’t justify your actions by saying well no one in my family has had cancer, you could also be the First

Most women probably have an aversion to having a weird plastic car -jack like item inserted into them.
But most of us would prefer that to dying of cancer.
You do you, I guess.

My smear detected abnormal cells.

They tend to test HPV levels and if they’re high then check for abnormal cells.

But if you don’t have HPV they do not look at your sample, so they wouldn’t catch the other 10% (not sure if this is an accurate figure?) anyway. That’s the problem. Once again, women are being shortchanged.

I have a friend like you,
I HAD a friend like you, shes dead now as shes had cervical cancer

It’s a few seconds discomfort that’s it. It’s not nice to have done but I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t had a smear test when I did. They had to do a biopsy and removed pre cancerous cells.

It is not a pleasant procedure but if it's the only option for now then I will do it. I had a late miscarriage and then had to have a very painful and traumatic check then d&c under general in hospital. So getting the smear these days bring back some very traumatic memories and flashbacks for me. But I will do it because I feel that if testing is available then it's kind of my duty to do it when I have two young kids who need me around.

My husband also is at higher risk for prostate issues so once a year he makes an appointment to get blood tests. GP has always been fine with that.

I wish you would reconsider.
Even lesbians can contract HPV. You can also be born with it. So no one is zero risk for HPV. The HPV test only picks up whether HPV is currently active in the vagina. Most of the time HPV is dormant, and so even those with HPV would test negative. So a negative test is proof you have never caught HPV.

No family history of cancer is irrelevant because this isn’t a type of cancer caused by a genetic mutation. This is a cancer that is 90% of the time caused by the HPV virus.

Your partner will be offered a prostate exam after age 50. Which is an invasive internal exam where the doctor inserts several fingers into his anus and check his rectum for any swelling of the prostrate.

“men aren’t coerced into invasive internal examinations” - well I would hope no one is coerced into an internal examinations but make no mistake men are also offered internal examinations regularly. Have you thought about how many STDs require a swab to be inserted into the urethra of the penis? And how that is much more painful than a swab in the vagina?

I think your aversion is overriding the science here, such that it may be classed as a phobia. I get it, it’s like needle phobia. Have you thought about asking for alternative tests for HPV? Or perhaps sedation you can take in the waiting room before a smear? (Like they do for dental phobia patients)

I agree doctors often dismiss serious medical issues, but that isn’t a reason to dismiss your own self from screening for what is a cancer that if caught late is very deadly.

That’s not good. If you’ve told them to stop contacting you then they should have respected your wishes!

Prevention costs less then a cure...

Read up on Total Pelvic Exenteration and this was after chemo and internal radiation. Radiation where they insert a rod up your vagina and basically zap you from within strapped to a bed.

this is the result of having a smear test come back with cancerous cells in my friend in her early 30s. A person like yourself who assumed she was also ‘low risk’ but thank goodness she kept up with smears.

your ignorance and assumption that you are low risk is wild.

This. They look at your cervix to check for visible changes too. Can't do that without examining it. Just like to get teeth checked they look in your mouth.

Yabu