York woman campaigning to lower age of cervical screening
21 year-old Olivia Grant says it should be free to all women over the age of 18
A York beauty queen's campaigning for all women over the age of 18 to be checked for cervical cancer.
Olivia Grant's started a petition which has been signed by more than 800 people.
At the moment the NHS only test women when they reach the age of 25.
That means Olivia had to pay for a private screening when she was 21 which showed up some abnormal cells. If untreated, those cells could turn cancerous. She says " I was diagnosed with CIN2 at 21. I was lucky enough that I could afford to pay for a test before the age of 25, but there are so many women who are not able to do that and why should they have to? Why should they have to pay for a test that could save their life?"
Her petition has now been signed by more than 800 people.
She says she's determined to make a change. "If and when we get that age lowered, it will save lives, sadly it's too late for some people, we've heard the stories, but it's not too late for the next generation."
You can see view her petition by clicking here