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NHS England is looking at making quick and easy-to-use self-testing kits available to around 400,000 more people every year in a bid to improve screening rates. Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time.

More info Cervical cancer screening tests could soon be done at home in the UK in a move experts say would be game changing. NHS leaders are looking at making quick and easy-to-use self-testing kits available in England, leading to around 400,000 more people being tested every year. The test detects human papillomavirus (HPV), a group of viruses which cause no symptoms but which can lead to cervical cancer .



About 13 high-risk types of HPV are known to cause 99.7% of all cervical cancers. Figures show cervical screening uptake is declining, particularly among younger women.

Testing may be missed due to a lack of convenient appointments, embarrassment and worries about the test causing pain. In the King's College London YouScreen trial, the biggest to date, women used a vaginal swab like a long cotton bud to take a sample themselves, either at home or in their GP practice, before posting their kit off for free to a laboratory. Other countries such as the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark and Sweden have already introduced the self-testing kits.

The introduction of an HPV jab is helping to prevent cancer cancer but women who haven't been vaccinated still need to attend screening every three .

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