Positive Health Online

Cervical Cancer Prevention Week: What to look for – Symptoms, Signs & Treatment

Cervical Cancer Prevention Week initiative took place from the 23rd to the 29th of January 2023. The aim is to ‘work towards a future where cervical cancer is a thing of the past’. Approximately 3,200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK each year. This makes it the 14th most common cancer among females in the UK. More than half of the cervical cancer cases in the UK each year are diagnosed in women under the age of 45. 

In recent years we have seen many individuals put off attending their regular cervical screening appointments when they are invited, as the Jade Goody effect falters.  Cervical screening coverage for the women in the target age group of 25 to 64 years old has fallen from 76 per cent  in 2010/11 to 70 per cent  in 2020/21. 

Reduced screening is a huge problem, the survival rate of cervical cancer is hugely reduced the later it is caught. For patients that are diagnosed during stage one, 98.4 per cent  survive   for at least a year, a rate that drops to less than half (49.3 per cent) for patients diagnosed at stage four.  For five year survival figures the drop is even more stark. Just over 90 per cent of patients diagnosed at stage one survive for at least five  years and only 70.9% of patients survive that long when diagnosed at stage two 

In the infographic below, we explore the symptoms, signs and treatment for cervical cancer, while considering the barriers that have prevented and still prevent people from attending their appointments. 

Please see below our Cervical Cancer infographic: