Yorkshire Cancer Survivor Urges Women Not To Miss Smear Test
Around 20% of young women here are failing to attend their screening.
A young woman from Yorkshire who had cervical cancer is urging others to be screened for it.
Becca Towler-Bolland was diagnosed with it in 2012 when she was just 24.
That would be too young to have a smear test but she says even if she'd had a letter about it she probably wouldn't have made an appointment.
She said:
"My mum always told me I probably wouldn't have gone, and that I could have been travelling, and then what would have happened?
"You could have been waiting on this and never gone until I was 28 or 29 and that would have been too late then.
"It's just really important, as soon as you get that letter, make that appointment
"A lot of girls I know, friends and collegues, as soon as they got the letter, decided to go.
"It's not nice but it's worth it."
Women in their twenties are least likely to have a smear test - with only a third having one according to Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.
The charity's warning that the number of women taking up screenings is continuing to fall.
Almost 4 million women are failing to attend the preventative examination.
Cases of cervical cancer, which led to the death of reality tv star Jade Goody in 2009, are at their highest since 1999.
In Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire - over 20% of young women are failing to attend cervical screening appointments.
A range of awareness events are being held across our region all this week.
Dr Phil Kirby, Screening and Immunisation Lead, NHS England - Yorkshire and the Humber said:
“We understand that going for a cervical smear test can be daunting but a cervical screening test takes five minutes, is painless, and if you attend each time you’re invited it provides a high degree of protection against developing cervical cancer.
“It’s actually estimated that early detection and treatment through cervical screening can prevent up to 75% of cervical cancers from developing in the UK. Therefore we want to urge all women who are eligible to attend their smear when they are invited, or book one if they’ve missed their last smear test by calling their GP, and ensure they stay healthy.”