Home-testing kits will be offered for women and people with a cervix who haven't attended their cervical cancer check, the Government has announced today.
The ground-breaking initiative is informed by evidence provided by the YouScreen trial which was led by King's College London. The trial, conducted in 2021 by Dr Anita Lim from the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, provided HPV self-sampling kits to women and people with a cervix who were at least six months overdue for their cervical screening. The trial found offering self-sampling kits could boost the numbers screened in England by about 400,000 each year.
Dr Anita Lim, Chief Investigator of the YouScreen trial and Senior Research Fellow, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, said: "This is a significant step forward for cervical cancer prevention and brings us closer to the NHS goal of eliminating the disease by 2040. The YouScreen trial, which provided self-sampling HPV kits to under-screen women in London, demonstrated that self-sampling could reach people who find it difficult to attend traditional screening - including those from diverse and underserved populations.
It's hugely positive to see this now reflected in national policy, helping more people get protected from this highly preventable cancer.
Dr Anita Lim, Chief Investigator of the YouScreen
She added: "It is such an honour that this evidence has been used to chance policy. Setting up a clinical trial can be tricky. The King's R&D and the Contracts team went out of their way to help us to set up and run the complex trial in a timely manner."
Self-sampling aims to revolutionise cervical cancer prevention rates by tackling deeply entrenched barriers that keep some women away from potentially life-saving screenings, including a fear of discomfort, embarrassment, cultural sensitivities and the struggle to find time for medical appointments.
Women who have rarely or have never attended their cervical screening will be offered a self-sample kit to complete at home. They are then sent out in discreet packaging and returned via pre-paid mail in the local post box.
Participation in cervical cancer screening currently sits at just 68.8% - well below the NHS England target of 80%. This means over 5 million women in England are not up to date with their routine check-up. But experts believe this targeted approach could increase participation in the screening programme that saves approximately 5000 lives a year across England.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: "These self-sampling kits represent healthcare that works around people's lives, not the other way around. They put women firmly in control of their own health, ensuring we catch more cancers at their earliest, most treatable stages.
"Our 10 Year Health Plan will fundamentally reform the NHS, shifting focus from treating illness to preventing it before it starts.
"We know the earlier cancer is diagnosed the better the chances are of survival. By making screening more convenient, we're tackling the barriers that keep millions of women from potentially life-saving tests."
