WOMEN across Ludlow and south Shropshire are urged to make sure that they know the symptoms of cervical cancer and have had their regular screening test.

Health chiefs at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System want women and people with a cervix to be aware of the dangers of cervical cancer and to know how to access help if it is needed.

This follows a major fall in the number of tests since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month the national charity Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust raised concerns over NHS England data which showed that around 70 per cent of eligible people in England were tested in 2020-21 and coverage had dropped by two per cent compared to 2019-20. The screening programme was temporarily suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Shropshire, 76 per cent of those eligible were screened, down from 78 per cent the year before.

Julie Davies, Director for Cancer Services at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, part of the ICS, said: “Cervical screening isn’t always easy, and with the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic it can be even harder, which means you might be tempted to put it off. Please get a test if it’s time for you to get one, cervical screening can help stop cervical cancer before it starts so it’s an incredibly important test.

“Cervical screening isn’t a test for cancer; it’s a test to check the health of the cells of the cervix. Most women’s test results show that everything is normal, but for around one in 20 women the test shows some abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix.

“Most of these changes won’t lead to cervical cancer.”