Cervical screening invites to change in England

Invitations for cervical screening will be sent out every five years instead of every three for women aged 25-49 in England, if they have a negative test.

Research shows they are at very low risk of cervical cancer and can safely wait longer to be screened again, NHS England has said.

The roll out of a vaccine to protect against HPV – the virus which causes nearly all cervical cancers – has reduced cases by around a quarter since the early 1990s.

Charities said the change was good news for those at low risk because they no longer needed to go for screening as often.