The Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, Mims Davies, has joined Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to encourage her constituents to take up their invitation for vital cervical screening.
Commenting Mims said:
“Shockingly, attendance of cervical screening in Hampshire is only 75.2%, while across England it is now at its lowest level for 20 years at just 72%. That means that 1.2 million people - our mums, aunts, sisters, cousins, nieces and neighbours - are not taking up their invitation for this potentially life-saving test. This is often due to concerns over how uncomfortable the screening might be, or due to embarrassment. Support is therefore a really important part of increasing participation, both from women and men.”
“As someone that continues to campaign on a whole range of women’s issues, I recognise the important role that men can play in campaigns such as this, and so would call on them to make sure that they are encouraging the women in their lives to take up this invitation, which could be one of the most crucial invites that they ever agree to.”
Cervical cancer is largely preventable through the HPV vaccination and cervical screening programmes; however, every day in the UK nine women are given a life-changing diagnosis and two will sadly lose their lives. Cervical screening provides the best protection against cervical cancer, but uptake is falling year after year. This urgently needs to change.