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MORE than 20 per cent of women in Dorset do not attend their cervical screening appointments, figures have revealed - as it emerged screenings are now at a 20-year low nationally. Access to face-to-face appointments being slashed due to Covid and reluctance to attend medical appointments amid the pandemic are being blamed for the drop. The latest figures show that 78 per cent of women in Dorset attend their cervical screening. The number of women attending their cervical cancer test in the UK is at a 20-year-low, at an average of 72.2 per cent, according to the latest government statistics. Women aged 25 to 64 should be invited by letter to have cervical screenings, and last year more than 4 million were invited for theirs.
Thousands of older women receive ‘shockingly inadequate’ ovarian cancer care when compared with younger women, meaning they are far less likely to survive the disease, experts have warned.
The over-70s face an average delay of five months before being referred to specialists, according to data collected by Ovarian Cancer Action – twice as long as the wait faced by younger women.
Also, many older ovarian cancer patients are not offered curative surgery to remove their tumours, and one in five receive no treatment at all.
According to the charity, the figures explain the disproportionately high mortality rate for women over 70 with ovarian cancer – nearly half die within a year of diagnosis, compared with the average figure of just under a third.
A CHARITY is raising awareness of new treatments for women with ovarian cancer. Weymouth-based cancer charity, GO Girls, is raising awareness of the new treatments as part of this year’s ovarian cancer awareness month. Treatments for ovarian cancer have remained static for many years, however, a new range of drugs known as PARP inhibitors, are bringing hope to women who are diagnosed with this type of cancer. Hilary Maxwell, CEO and chair of GO Girls, said: “This is such exciting news for women. We’ve been waiting a long time for newer treatments: this is the first sign of hope women with ovarian cancer have been waiting for and research has shown positive results for many women.