Screening uptake has been low for some years. NHS England found three in 10 people eligible don’t go for their screening, even though this is the only way to know if you have HPV. Fears around discomfort during the screening and access issues are regularly cited as reasons people don’t go, despite it being potentially life-saving. It’s not all bad news though — a report shared by Public Health Scotland found no cases of cervical cancer have been detected in the first cohort of women given the HPV vaccine in Scotland in 2008. It was initially brought in just for girls aged 12 to 13 and only provided protection for selected strains. Now, boys can also access the vaccine and more strains are included in it. Though the data is a tad premature, as most of these women will be around 31 years old, it’s promising, and suggests if there are any future cases, the figures will be low. This doesn’t mean we can be lax about attending screenings though.
