Driving change through knowledge
We're delighted to see the NHS cervical screening guide in England has officially been updated and now makes clear that cervical screening does not detect ovarian or any other gynaecological cancer.
This is a change that we've been campaigning for for over a decade!
Currently 40 percent of women wrongly believe that cervical screening will detect ovarian cancer. With no viable screening programme, it's vital that every woman knows the symptoms and that we address the misconceptions around ovarian cancer to ensure women feel empowered to take action.
We first identified the confusion around cervical screening and ovarian cancer in 2012 and since then have put it at the forefront of our conversations with policymakers and Members of Parliament.
In 2024 we launched Three Targets to Transform the Future of Ovarian Cancer, our blueprint for the new government, outlining the changes we think need to be made to ensure everyone diagnosed with ovarian cancer has the best possible chance of survival. Updating the messaging in the cervical screening leaflet was part of target one and we're thrilled that this has now been achieved, alongside our call for a National Cancer Plan.
Throughout this campaigning journey our campaigners have used their voices and called on their MPs for support. One such campaigner is Sue, who in December last year asked her MP, Jim Dickson to table a parliamentary question asking the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care whether his department plans to take steps to alter the messaging provided on cervical screening leaflets. Through this question we were able to receive confirmation that the leaflet would be updated in 2025.
This update clearly demonstrates how powerful we can be when we campaign together. Addressing the misconceptions around ovarian cancer and empowering women with the knowledge they need to recognise symptoms is at the heart of Target Ovarian Cancer’s work and I'm delighted that our long-term and determined approach to this issue has paid off.
Whilst there's still more work to be done to ensure that this change is reflected across all UK nations, this is significant step forward and a brilliant outcome after years of campaigning!
