Cervical Screening Awareness Week (9th - 15th June 2013)

The WRDA are encouraging groups to avail of their FREE Breast and Cervical Screening Awareness Programmes to mark national Cervical Screening Awareness Week (9th – 15th June 2013).

Cervical Screening Awareness Week (CSAW) is a UK wide initiative lead by Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust. The week aims to highlight the importance of cervical screening (smear) and how attending a screening invitation can help to prevent cervical cancer.

Levels of cervical cancer among Northern Irish women could rise if they continue ignoring their screening test invitations.  Almost a quarter of women in the country fail to attend their screening appointment, which is scheduled once every three years.

Recent studies found that 22% of those eligible for screening - aged 25 to 64 - do not attend, and the lowest uptake falls among those who are due their first and last ever appointments. According to figures from the Northern Ireland Cervical Screening Programme's annual report for 2010 to 2011, in both the 25 to 29 and 60 to 64 age groups, 28% ignore or delay their screening invitation.

Research from the charity found reasons that younger women fail to attend their screening tests include embarrassment, fear of the procedure after finding a previous test painful, and difficulty in booking an appointment due to a busy working life.  It also found that almost a third of women aged between 50 and 70 believe the test to be unnecessary and irrelevant to them. 

The WRDA Breast and Cervical Screening Programme is a two session Programme, offered free to community groups in the Belfast Trust and South Eastern Trust areas, to raise awareness of the importance of breast and cervical screening, by providing information that will encourage them to avail of the screening services on offer and help address any fears surrounding attending screening.  The sessions are fully interactive and fun yet still deliver a high impact message.

For more information on the Breast and Cervical Screening Programme or to book the programme for your community group, please contact Sadhbh Branton on 028 9023 0212 or email [email protected].

 

Last updated 10 years 9 months ago