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At-Home Cervical Cancer Tests to Launch Next Year for Unscreened Women
28 Jul
Summary
- At-home kits for cervical cancer screening to be offered starting next year
- Opportunistic offers in primary care boost uptake of self-sampling kits
- Over 5 million women in the UK not up to date with routine cervical screenings
In a move to improve cervical cancer screening rates, the UK will begin offering at-home testing kits to women who have rarely or never attended their routine check-ups. Starting next year, these self-sampling kits will test for the human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus linked to the majority of cervical cancer cases.
A recent study conducted across 13 GP surgeries in west London examined the most effective ways to encourage women to use the self-sampling kits. The researchers found that opportunistically offering the kits to women during primary care visits led to the highest uptake, with 74% of the 449 women accepting the offer. In contrast, only 12% of the 1,616 women who were sent a kit in the mail returned a sample, and just 5% of the 1,587 women invited by letter to order a kit followed through.
While the opportunistic approach proved most successful, the researchers noted that a significant number of women who accepted the offer still did not return their sample. They suggest that text or phone reminders could help boost the return rate. Currently, over 5 million women in the UK are not up to date with their regular cervical screenings, often citing a lack of time, discomfort, or embarrassment as barriers.
The new at-home testing initiative aims to make the process more accessible and comfortable for women, ultimately helping to improve cervical cancer detection and prevention across the country.
