London Underground awareness campaign

2 – 18 June 2014

To mark Cervical Screening Awareness Week 2014 we have launched a poster campaign on the London underground to raise awareness of the importance of cervical screening.

Q&A

What does Mind the Gap refer to?

Mind the Gap is a play on the iconic phrase coined by Transport for London and used across the world to remind travellers to watch out for the gap on the platform. In this context, we are using it to remind women to watch out for leaving too big a gap in between their cervical screenings. Women aged 25-49 (20 in Scotland) will be invited for screening every 3 years. Those aged 50-64 (60 in Scotland) are invited every 5 years. Our aim is to encourage women to book a test as soon as they receive their invite.

Why do women need to be mindful of the time in between screenings?

Currently in the UK 1 in 5 women fail to take up their cervical screening invitation each year. Research conducted by the charity has found that, on average, 25-29 year old females (first screening age) delay attendance of screening for 15 months and 60-64 year olds (last screening age) delay for 33 months.

Regular cervical screening provides a high degree of protection against developing cervical cancer and is offered free on the NHS. It is estimated that early detection and treatment through cervical screening can prevent up to 75% of cervical cancers from developing.

Why did you decide to target the London underground for this campaign?

London has the lowest uptake for cervical screening in the UK. Currently 1 in 4 women fail to attend screening in the capital when invited. In some boroughs this rises to 1 in 3. We therefore used this awareness poster to target delayers and non-attenders whilst they travel through London.

The underground network allows us to target a spread of areas across London and a reach of 89% of tube users.

What do you hope to achieve with this campaign?

We hope the posters either act as a reminder for those who have delayed attendance for the test or serve as a reinforcement of the importance of cervical screening so that when the next invitation drops through a woman’s letter box, she will book her appointment straight away.

How can people get involved with Cervical Screening Awareness Week?

There are lots of ways to get involved in the week and all year round! From distributing our information materials and putting up posters in your local GP surgery, to simply making a pledge to attend screening via our Put Yourself In The Picture app. We’d love for you to help bring down incidence of cervical cancer.