A Third Of North East Women Put Off Smear Test
Women in the North East could be putting their lives at risk by falling behind with their smear test appointments.
New research has found a third of women in the region have delayed their screening by more than a year, with 37 per cent claiming they struggle to get an appointment.
The most common reasons for women avoiding tests is because it's painful and embarrassing.
5 million women across the UK aren't up to date with their smear test appointments and 1 million women have confessed to never having had one.
Almost 3,000 women die from cervical cancer in the UK every year.
Middlesbrough mum Leanne Sewell missed her first smear test after being distracted whilst moving abroad.
She developed symptoms around 4 months after her missed test and was diagnosed with Stage 1 cervical cancer at the age of 25.
After laser surgery, Leanne is now cancer-free but is warning other women not to put off what many feel is a chore.
She said: "I put it off by four months and I was caught at Stage 1."
"Had I put it off for a year, would my treatment have been more invasive than a laser?"
"If I'd have put it off by two years, would I still be sat here?"
"Unfortunately it is that serious, you have to catch it in it's early stages."
This month a new campaign to get more women tested will launch in the UK.
Target 100,000 will offer women an at-home test called GynaeCheck which can detected the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer.