Cervical Cancer Prevention Week
Did you know this week (21-27 January) is Cervical Cancer Prevention Week?
The awareness campaign, run by UK charity Jo’s Trust, aims to increase the percentage of women attending their cervical screening test.
Cervical cancer can be prevented. A smear test lasts five minutes. The impact of cervical cancer lasts a lifetime.
You can help by ensuring every woman knows how they can reduce their risk of the disease by attending a smear test.
Did you know?
- A person’s risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including age, genetics and lifestyle factors.
- 1 in 142 UK females will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in their lifetime.
- 99.8% of cervical cancer cases in the UK are preventable.
- 99.8% of cervical cancer cases in the UK are caused by infections.
- 21% of cervical cancer cases in the UK are caused by smoking.
- There are around 3,200 new cervical cancer cases in the UK every year, that’s nearly 9 every day (2013-2015).
- In females in the UK, cervical cancer is the 14th most common cancer, with around 3,100 new cases in 2015.
- Over the last decade, cervical cancer incidence rates have increased by a twentieth (5%) in females in the UK.
- When diagnosed at its earliest stage, around 95% of women with cervical cancer will survive their disease for five years or more, compared with 5 in 100 of women when diagnosed at the latest stage.
Local data for west Essex CCG (2017/18) shows 74% of women invited attend cervical screening. The national target is 80%.
Find out more, and how you can support the week, on the Jo’s Trust website.