Today, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has announced it has recommended the use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), within the Cancer Drugs Fund to treat some patients with advanced cervical cancer.

Jo's are a proud member of the One Cancer Voice group of over 50 cancer charities. We share a collective aim and bring experience across the awareness, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and recovery from all cancer types and patient groups, including adults, children and young people. 

Today, we have sent a letter to Dr Thérèse Coffey MP, the new Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care asking her to set out a clear date for the publication of the much anticipated 10-Year Cancer Plan in England.

The Cervical Screening Programme in Wales recently announced that it is changing. As of the 1st of January the routine screening interval for women and other people with a cervix in Wales aged 25 - 49 has moved from three to five years. We’re taking you behind the headlines to help you understand what the announcement means for you.

To further our work in understanding the impact of COVID-19 on cervical screening, we conducted an online survey of 2,000 women aged 25-64 living in England and spoke to an additional 22 through one to one interviews and focus groups. Carried out during June and July 2020, we asked those taking part in the research how they felt about attending cervical screening in light of the pandemic.

Ahead of the third and final part of the new Jade Goody documentary on Channel 4, we’re discussing the sorts of conversations it will inspire, and how we can make sure they are as positive as possible.

We’ve released a new report today highlighting a barrier to cervical screening which is frankly disgraceful: physical disability. We were shocked by what we found.

Two thirds of women with a physical disability say they have been unable to attend cervical screening because of their disability. We heard from others who have been told they can’t have a test and worryingly numbers who have faced stigma and misconceptions along the way.

Smear tests can be difficult for a variety of reasons, but some women can face additional barriers to getting tested. This includes women with a range of physical disabilities such as muscular dystrophy or multiple sclerosis. While in some areas women are able to access smear tests, whether through home visits, equipped GPs or provision to attend in other settings such hospitals, this is unequal across the county and mean some women are missing out on tests that could potentially save their lives. 

Kate Sanger, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, wrote this blog for The Eve Appeal about the recent cervical screening failure news.

You may have seen the news last week about an error within the cervical screening programme resulting in information letters not being sent out.

It was reported that, unfortunately, earlier this year reminder letters were not sent to 43,220 women. What is more concerning though is that 4,508 results letters were not sent out.