The Government is to offer home-testing kits as part of the cervical screening programme under its upcoming 10 Year Health Plan.
The ground-breaking initiative aims to revolutionise cervical cancer prevention rates by tackling deeply entrenched barriers that keep some women away from potentially life-saving screenings, including a fear of discomfort, embarrassment, cultural sensitivities and the struggle to find time for medical appointments.
Women who have rarely or have never attended their cervical screening will be offered a self-sample kit to complete at home. They are then sent out in discreet packaging and returned via pre-paid mail in the local post box.
Participation in cervical cancer screening currently sits at just 68.8% – well below the NHS England target of 80%. This means over 5 million women in England are not up to date with their routine check-up**. But experts believe this targeted approach could increase participation in the screening programme that saves approximately 5000 lives a year across England.
The initiative is part of the government’s upcoming 10 Year Health Plan – due to be published in the coming weeks – which sets out how government plans to tackle the challenges facing the health service and build an NHS that is fit for the future by doing more to prevent ill health in the first place.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
These self-sampling kits represent healthcare that works around people’s lives, not the other way around. They put women firmly in control of their own health, ensuring we catch more cancers at their earliest, most treatable stages.
Our 10 Year Health Plan will fundamentally reform the NHS, shifting focus from treating illness to preventing it before it starts.
We know the earlier cancer is diagnosed the better the chances are of survival. By making screening more convenient, we’re tackling the barriers that keep millions of women from potentially life-saving tests.
The self-testing kits, which detect human papillomavirus (HPV), a group of viruses that can lead to cervical cancer, allow women to carry out this testing in the privacy and convenience of their own homes.
