Nearly half of Australian women aren’t up to date with their cervical screening, according to the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation.
Their research shows 43 per cent of Australian women are not being screened regularly, which is every two years.
“What we know is 90 per cent of the women who are going to get cervical cancer or die from cervical cancer are in that group,” Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation chief executive Joe Tooma said.
No signs for cervical cancer
Every year, over 30,000 women are found to have high-grade abnormalities after having a Pap test. That is 82 women every day of the year!
Cervical cancer often has no symptoms so if these abnormalities aren’t picked up, they can develop into cancer.
While the HPV vaccine Gardasil was introduced in 2006, it’s only aimed at women up to the age of 26.
That means the majority of older women only have the Pap test to rely on to detect any changes.
So what’s the good news?
Cervical cancer is almost completely preventable – all you need to do is be tested regularly.
Take the time to get tested
The current guidelines recommend sexually active women aged between 18 and 70 be screened every two years.
From next year this will change to a five-yearly human papilloma virus (HPV) test, which is expected to uncover even more cases.
Let’s be clear – these are tests that take just a few minutes, but could save your life or the life of someone you love.
Around 800 to 1,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year. Of these, over 200 died because their cancer was simply found too late.
If you’re one of the 43 per cent, this is your wake-up call – make an appointment now.
