There are many hurdles that may crop up in our lives that may stop us, or delay us, from booking our cervical screening test. Life is busy, quite often stressful, and you may have heard some pretty off-putting stories.
Add to the mix a global pandemic, and what has been a very difficult 12 months for everybody, and well, there are a lot of barriers. An Eve survey (yougov), launched today for Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, found that nearly 1 in 3 women (29%) who didn’t attend their cervical screening test when invited in the last 12 months were off put by coronavirus. 21% were worried about catching or spreading the virus and 10% thought their appointment wouldn’t be going ahead with everything going on.
With many mums juggling home schooling and work, and key workers doing their best in extremely difficult conditions, it is understandable that 13% of women also didn’t see it as a priority for them last year, and another 13% felt too busy to be able to go.
Of course, there are some women who face even greater barriers in attending- 15% of the women surveyed who didn’t go to their screening said it is too difficult for them to go. For survivors of sexual violence, FGM, or trans men or people with conditions like vaginismus, cervical screening may be too triggering or painful- with or without a pandemic. Wheelchair users may struggle to find a nearby GP with a hoist for them to be able to be screened, and women with a learning disability may not have had the information they need to feel supported in going. Helen, who runs an online support service, At Your Cervix, says: ‘On top of screening already being difficult for survivors of sexual violence, some women and people with cervixes find face coverings triggering of their trauma, as well as the healthcare professional having a face covering. So add that to the already traumatic process of screening, and it’s an even bigger barrier’.
Across the UK, the Cervical Screening Programme is up and running, although some surgeries are postponing appointments due to capacity issues, lack of staff, or not having a safe, covid-free space for the appointments.
At Eve, we want to encourage and support everyone with a cervix to get screened. GPs have taken careful measures to ensure that their screening service, if open, is safe. Eve Ambassador Dr Bella Smith says: ‘We have taken so many measures in our practice to make sure the appointments are safe for women and people with cervixes, and I have no worries about getting people in for their screening. With nearly all GP appointments over the phone at the moment, people are only coming into the surgery if it is absolutely essential that they are seen in person, and these patients have all had an initial phone consultant. We have put in place electric doors so you can get in and out of the surgery touch-free, and we will be wearing PPE throughout the appointment to make it as quick and safe as possible.
“We are here to help and support you with screening and if you have any worries, give your GP a call before coming in to talk it through, there are lots of tricks we can do to make screening as easy as possible if you are worried. There are a few sizes of speculum, the instrument used to open up the vagina for us to see the cervix, and you can guide that in yourself if easier. We can use extra lube, and talk you through the process first to put your mind at ease. You can also Ask Eve to chat to someone at The Eve Appeal about your concerns, the most important thing is that cervical cancer is prevented.”
What is important to know about cervical screening is that it isn’t a cancer test, it’s a preventative test. Cervical cancer is unique in that it is almost wholly preventable, in November last year The World Health Organisation (WHO) made a commitment to end cervical cancer globally by 2030, using vaccination, screening, and increased awareness of symptoms and effective treatment.
99.8% of cervical cancers are caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV is extremely common, 80% of people come into contact with it in their lives, and is transmitted through skin to skin sexual contact. Many of us usually clear the HPV infection on our own, our immune system simply pushes it out, like any other virus. For an unfortunate few it lingers and causes damage to the cervix. It takes a long time to develop into cancer, and you can pick up the damage to the cells before they are cancerous, called ‘abnormal cells’. What is so great about the Cervical Screening Programme, is that it looked for high-risk, cancer-causing, strains of HPV, and then looks for these abnormal cells. If you have abnormal cells, they can be treated, you can be screened more regularly, and cervical cancer will be prevented from ever developing.
The WHO has put together their strategy for eliminating cervical cancer worldwide, and they believe that to do so, 90% of girls need to be vaccinated against HPV, 70% of women need to be screened, and 90% need to be treated effectively- that includes pre-cancer treatment to remove abnormal cells and treatment for those who are diagnosed with cervical cancer. With these measures it will be possible to completely eliminate cervical cancer worldwide- amazing! And these measures are all available now, and in the UK, and we all have the power to prevent cervical cancer in ourselves already.
Alice, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer says: ‘I was only 28 when I was diagnosed and didn’t see screening as a priority. I had no symptoms until I had to go to A&E for a massive bleed which led to my diagnosis. I actually had two pelvic ultrasounds for another issue I had with my ovaries a few months before and thought ‘well if that hasn’t picked it up then I’m fine’. I went on to be diagnosed with stage 1b cervical cancer in December 2018, my tumour was 4cm. I’ve had two major surgeries, chemotherapy and weeks of radiotherapy. At least some of these, if not all, could have been avoided if I had made time for my cervical screening. I would urge everyone invited to go.”
If you have any questions or concerns, you can Ask Eve, for free and confidential advice, on nurse@eveappeal.org.uk and 0808 802 0019.