A third of people across the UK are overdue their cervical cancer screening, while in parts of England some are at greater risk of the disease than others due to a low uptake for the preventive vaccine, experts have warned.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, cervical screening attendance rates for women and other people with cervixes have been steadily declining, from 72.2% in 2020 to 68.4% in 2024, NHS England data shows.
A YouGov survey of 3,000 people across the UK eligible for cervical cancer screening, commissioned by Cancer Research UK, is in line with these findings, with 30% of respondents being overdue their screening.
It also highlighted the main barriers people cited, with 42% of respondents finding cervical screening painful previously, 40% not wanting a man to carry out the screening test, and just under one in five (19%) of respondents saying they were too embarrassed to go for a screening.
Of those who did not attend their screening, 16% of respondents said it was because they did not have any symptoms – highlighting the misinformation still prevalent regarding cervical screening, which is for people without symptoms.
Separate figures from the UK Heath Security Agency (UKHSA) have found that uptake of the HPV vaccine greatly varies by region, with girls in London by year 10 having the lowest uptake (64.9%) and girls in the south-east the highest (82.7%).
Among boys of the same age, it was also lowest in London (58.9%) and highest in the south-east (77.3%).
HPV refers to a group of viruses that can be transmitted through sexual contact and cause no symptoms. About 13 high-risk types of HPV are known to cause 99.7% of cervical cancers.
Each year, about 3,200 women in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 850 die from it. It is the 14th most common cancer affecting women in Britain, with women aged 30 to 34 most likely to receive a diagnosis. Last year, NHS England pledged to wipe out cervical cancer by 2040.
Globally, it is the fourth most common cancer in women, with about 660,000 new cases and 350,000 deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization.
The disease develops when abnormal cells appear in the lining of the cervix and grow, eventually coming together as a tumour. If the cells are not caught early, the cancer can spread to other parts of the body.
In June, NHS England said that women aged between 25 and 49 who test negative for HPV, meaning they are at very low risk of cervical cancer over the next 10 years, will safely be invited at five-year intervals instead of three.
Fiona Osgun, Cancer Research UK’s head of health information, said the declining rates were due to a combination of factors.
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“We know that people have specific barriers to accessing screening; some of those are practical such as not being able to get an appointment at a time that works for them, but some are more specific to the test itself, such as finding the screening painful or being worried about who’s going to be carrying out the test,” Osgun said.
“I think we have just seen a slow decline, which unfortunately can happen even with successful screening programmes.
“We need to continue to chip away at those misunderstandings and misconceptions some people have regarding cervical screening.”
Osgun added that there were various measures people could ask for to make their cervical screening test more comfortable, such as asking for a double appointment or a different-sized speculum.
Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services at NHS England, said: “The NHS HPV vaccination programme has already helped save thousands of lives and we need to go further to boost uptake of HPV vaccines and cervical screening to help eliminate cervical cancer in England by 2040.”
