Cally Skinner examines the case for lowering the age of cervical smear tests.
Lia Twiner, my sister, experienced every single one of the rare symptoms that indicate cervical cancer – not least severe pain in the lower abdomen. However, being only 23 years of age, she was refused the smear test which would have revealed whether she had cervical cancer or not.
The doctors were willing to give her many other tests – but not the one she really wanted. Three successive appointments were not followed up. Only after a year of battling with the NHS was she finally offered an appointment for a smear test. Significantly, it was a woman doctor who offered it.
‘If you want one I’ll do it for you,’ she said – something Lia had longed to hear.
Thankfully my sister was one of the lucky ones and the results came back negative. However there are many examples of women who were not so lucky – women as young as 19 dying of a cancer they didn’t even know they had. And what if some girls aren’t as fortunate with the doctor they finally get to see?
Aspiring model Sophie James, 19, lost her battle with cervical cancer having being denied a smear test nine times in two months. Her death prompted more than 300,000 people to sign a petition to lower the minimum testing age to 16. Mother of one Jess Evans is another victim: she died in February 2014 aged just 22. She was refused a smear test nine times in two months.
New campaigns such as #smearforsmear are aiming to raise awareness of the dangers of cervical cancer. But what is the point of raising awareness if women under 25 are not allowed to find out whether they have it?
Prior to 2011 the testing age was 20, but in 2011 the age was raised to 25. Was this because of budget cuts?
Eight women a day are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK, according to Cancer Research. Doctors ignore the fact that two out of every 100 women suffering from cervical cancer are under 25, they argue that it is unhelpful to offer the standard test for girls under 25 as the test results are less accurate in regard to this age group (young women may present abnormal cells without these being cancerous).
The smear test is a swab taken from the cervix to identify any abnormal cells that could lead to cancer. These abnormal cells commonly lead on from the infection Human Papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is spread during sexual intercourse, an estimated one in three women will develop a HPV infection within two years of starting to have regular sex.
The legal age to have sex in the UK is 16 years old, this means that we can expect girls as young as 16 to be infected with the HPV virus which can eventually lead to the growth of a cancerous tumour.
Women who smoke are twice as likely to develop cervical cancer. Taking the oral contraceptive pill for more than five years also doubles the risk. This is something the doctors failed to tell me when I went on the pill. I have had regular check-ups since going on the pill, and have never had this risk mentioned to me.
With the legal sex age at 16, young women are using the contraceptive pill. This means that by the age of 21 they have doubled their chances of getting cervical cancer. The HPV infection developed through sex also contributes to the risk considerably, therefore women as young as 20 can be exposed to two of the contributing factors of cervical cancer.
The results of a smear test in women under the age of 25 are not always reliable. However, the increase in women with cervical cancer under this age is enough to lower the age limit to at least 20. Scotland’s screening age is 20 years old which only shows that the Scottish government recognises the need for tests at a lower age.
Jess Evans was the same age as my sister. If she had been as lucky as Lia then she might still be here today. The chance of getting a sympathetic doctor that will willingly test a woman under 25 is slim. Jess’ fight was unsuccessful – how many more will be equally unsuccessful before the age limit is changed?