{"id":748971,"date":"2026-08-25T06:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/748971\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T06:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:40:11","slug":"nhs-england-to-offer-women-gamechanging-free-home-testing-kits-for-cervical-cancer-cervical-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/748971\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS England to offer women \u2018gamechanging\u2019 free home testing kits for cervical cancer | Cervical cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millions of women in England<\/a> who have missed cervical screening appointments will be offered free home testing kits on the NHS.<\/p>\n

The move comes amid concerns that only two-thirds of women attend in-person cervical screening appointments<\/a> when asked to do so, leaving as many as 4 million women not up to date.<\/p>\n

The rollout is being described as a \u201cgamechanger\u201d, offering a \u201cdiscreet and convenient option\u201d to encourage more women to get screened.<\/p>\n

The kits contain a swab to collect a sample from the vagina. This is then posted back to the NHS<\/a> free, where it is tested in labs for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV).<\/p>\n

If high-risk HPV is detected, patients will then be asked to attend a cervical screening appointment with a clinician.<\/p>\n

HPV is a group of viruses that can be passed on through sexual contact and cause no symptoms. About 13 high-risk types of the virus are known to cause 99.7% of cervical cancers.<\/p>\n

Starting on Tuesday, eligible women between 30 and 65 who have not attended screening appointments will be sent invitations via the NHS app, text message, email or letter.<\/p>\n

They will then be able to order a kit through the app or website. The scheme is part of the NHS\u2019s target of eliminating cervical cancer by 2040.<\/p>\n

Dr Sue Mann, national clinical director for women\u2019s health at NHS England, said: \u201cScreening saves thousands of lives each year by preventing cancers and catching them earlier, but only around two-thirds of women are attending cervical screening appointments when invited by the NHS.<\/p>\n

\u201cOffering millions of women an alternative test they can do from the comfort of their own homes will be a gamechanger \u2013 making it easier than ever for them to get tested for HPV.\u201d<\/p>\n

Women aged between 24 and 64 are invited for cervical screening every five years, or more often if HPV is detected.<\/p>\n

The latest figures from NHS England show 68.8% of eligible women are up to date with cervical screening, below the 80% target. It means about 4 million women are not up to date, according to NHS estimates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of reasons that may stop women from getting their cervical screening \u2013 embarrassment, lack of time, or worries about discomfort \u2013 and these kits provide a discreet and convenient option we hope will encourage more women to take up the life-saving test,\u201d said Mann.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo, if you\u2019re invited to take part, please order a test \u2013 it\u2019s a simple swab you can do at home in minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Athena Lamnisos, chief executive of the Eve Appeal, welcomed the move, saying that self-testing at home would be a \u201cstep-change\u201d for many women.<\/p>\n

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer<\/a> Research UK, said: \u201cCervical screening is a powerful tool that saves lives \u2013 it can prevent cervical cancer or spot it at an earlier stage when treatment is more likely to be successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it\u2019s best for cervical screening to be done by a nurse or doctor, there are barriers that make it challenging for some people to attend. At-home HPV self-testing kits will help more people take part in a way that works for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, said the aim was to make it as easy and convenient as possible for women to keep up with their screening. She said: \u201cThis is the future NHS we are building \u2013 there for all of us when we need it, and acting as early as possible to stop preventable deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Millions of women in England who have missed cervical screening appointments will be offered free home testing kits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":748972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-748971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/748972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}