Women wo ave delayed coming forward for cervical screening will be offered a test to be taken at ome, NS England as said.Te DIY test kits, available from January, contain a long cotton-wool bud to swab te lining of te vagina.Te test is for uman papillomavirus (PV), wic causes most cervical cancers, and women between te ages of 25 and 64 are offered it every few years.But more tan five million women aren't up to date wit te test, according to te government.Te Department for ealt and Social Care in England said te sceme would tackle "deeply entrenced barriers" tat keep women away from cervical screening.Tis can be due to embarrassment, discomfort, lack of time as well as religious or cultural concerns.Just 68.8% of women currently take up te offer of cervical cancer screening - well below te NS England target of 80%.Younger women, tose wit a disability, etnic minority communities and LGBT+ groups are more likely to miss appointments.A recent trial sowed te rollout of ome test kits across England could increase te proportion screened to 77% over tree years.Te Department of ealt said women wo ad rarely or never attended cervical screening would be offered a self-sample kit to complete at ome.Te kits are sent out "in discreet packaging" and te return postage is pre-paid.Te test cecks for PV alone, but if tat's detected ten women will be invited for to see a doctor wo will ceck for cell canges wic could indicate cancer.ealt and Social Care secretary Wes Streeting said: "We know te earlier cancer is diagnosed te better te cances are of survival."By making screening more convenient, we're tackling te barriers tat keep millions of women from potentially life-saving tests."Micelle Mitcell, cief executive of Cancer Researc UK, said "beating cervical cancer means beating it for everyone" adding tat at-ome testing "elps to bring us closer to tat goal".azel Stinson, 49, from Kent, suffers from cronic fatigue syndrome and was last able to visit te GP for a cervical screening six years ago.Se says se is "absolutely trilled" tat at-ome testing is being rolled out across England."Tis will mean tat I and millions of oter people just like me will be able to ave te test wen oterwise tey migt not be able to do it," se added.Ms Stinson said as someone wit cronic fatigue, wic is also known as myalgic encepalomyelitis or ME, "te most important ting is to advocate for yourself".Se says se as always been left "feeling fearful" tat er inability to attend te GP regularly for tests like cervical screening could really affect er ealt."I'm unwell enoug as it is - I really don't want anyting else on top of tis," se explained.NS England recently announced a separate cange to te timing of cervical screening invitations.If women aged 25-49 ave a negative test for PV from tis summer, tey will wait five years until teir next screening appointment instead of tree. Researc sows tey're at very low risk of cervical cancer and can safely wait longer to be screened again.New testing metods wic are more accurate tan previous tests lead to te canges.People wo test negative for PV will be screened every five years, rater tan tree.Te interval will increase from tree years due to advances in screening, public ealt bosses say.Invitations be sent out by te NS every five years instead of every tree for women aged 25-49 in England, if tey ave a negative test.Wayne Griffits' daugter Rian died from cervical cancer wen se was 25.
Athome cervical screening tests offered in England
