I am addressing this to everyone working in our NHS, in public health, in social care. Whether you work in a laboratory, general practice, a hospital or are supporting any aspect of our health and care system in your home - I want to thank you and say the team at Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust are right beside you.

Can cervical cancer be eliminated? Are we close? Or are we actually seeing increases in diagnoses?

This week is Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, and while it’s great that there is so much attention on cervical cancer, there have been a lot of conflicting and maybe confusing headlines and we want to help you understand what’s really going on.

You might have seen recently in the news that there is going to be a pilot scheme in London looking at the best way to offer self-sampling to women as part of the cervical screening programme. We know that lots of people have questions about self-sampling and about this pilot, so hopefully the below will help.

The ‘Jade Goody effect’ undoubtedly increased the understanding of cervical cancer and screening but, ten years on, it’s clear we still have a long way to go. 

The cervical screening (smear test) programme is changing.

Looking into the New Year, there is lots to look forward to and focus on. We are committed to working harder and shouting louder than ever before and we are better placed than ever to do this with a growing team, a rising income, a greater reputation and more partners than ever before.

Wednesday’s (19th July) announcement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) was disappointing. We heard that not only has a final decision on extending the HPV vaccination to boys not been made, but that the committee is unable to recommend an extension based on cost-effectiveness.

Recently I attended the International Federation for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology conference in Orlandowhere I was invited to speak about the psychosocial barriers to screening...

Our motivation and drive this year is stronger than ever. Why? Because we are seeing fewer and fewer women across the UK attending cervical screening (smear tests)...

Last July, the independent Cancer Taskforce published its strategy for achieving the very best cancer outcomes by 2020 in England. It set out measures to improve cancer prevention and to also ensure that anyone who is diagnosed with cancer can live as well and long as possible.