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Original poster

Women failing to attend smear tests

656 replies

guardianfree · 22/01/2018 13:34

Women generally but young women in particular - 1 in 3 not attending.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jos-cervical-cancer-trust-charity-smear-tests-terminal-illness-health-wellbeing-hospitals-a8171011.html

I know they're unpleasant (and often feel humiliating) but what can we do to reassure women that they can be life savers?

OP posts:
Original poster
guardianfree · 22/01/2018 13:44

Alienspaceship
Do you have any statistics about this? I'd happily never have another smear test if I thought they were unimportant!

OP posts:
ThisIsAStory · 22/01/2018 13:44

Educate on the risk factors. Educate girls on their biology so they KNOW what a scrape on a cervix is (I mean who gets that from 'smear' anyway). And yes, yes yes re booking ease - especially since it has to be done within a window of the cycle. Combine that with some women not having such a regular cycle and some practices awkward booking options and even quite a determined woman can be defeated.

Original poster
guardianfree · 22/01/2018 13:43

Agreed Mummy - When you're working full time, finding time for any level of personal care can be difficult.

OP posts:
grasspigeons · 22/01/2018 13:42

what do the breast screening programme do?
Everyone seems to go for those

Alienspaceship · 22/01/2018 13:41

They’re not as important as you think. To detect the aggressive cancers that women die of requires a smear every 3-6 months. This is too expensive and unmanageable for the NHS. Every three years is a hit and miss approach.

mummyhaschangedhername · 22/01/2018 13:37

Make it easier to book one. My last practice, I would call up and they would say they were full for 2 week and to call again in 2 weeks which I would do and the process would continue. It took months and a lot of wasted time trying to get through to the practice which would take an hour in average. I didn't have that sort of time to waste.