Screening campaign halves the cervical cancer rate

Published on Monday 23 February 2009 22:51

WOMEN are now half as likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer as they were 20 years ago, researchers said today.

An NHS cancer screening programme, launched in 1988, has driven down the rate from 16 women per 100,000 in 1988 to eight per 100,000 in 2005, according to the latest figures.

In the late 1980s, about 4,800 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer each year in the UK, but that figure is now about 2,700.

The news comes after the reality TV star Jade Goody, 27, who has terminal cervical cancer, celebrated her wedding to Jack Tweed at the weekend.

Women who live in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are invited for screening from the age of 20.

Some health experts have criticised the screening programme in England for only inviting women aged 25 to 64 for smear tests.

Sara Hiom, the UK director of health information for Cancer Research, said cervical cancer used to be the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and is now the 13th following the screening programme.

She said: "These compelling figures show how effective the programme has been in preventing the disease and saving lives. Screening works by picking up early changes in the cervix before they can develop into cancer."

Before screening, more than 2,000 women in the UK died from cervical cancer each year, but in 2006 that figure was down to 921.

Ms Hiom said: "Even though cervical cancer is no longer in the top ten of all cancers, it is still the second most common cancer for women under the age of 35."