THE Glasgow Times has vowed to tackle a staggeringly low uptake of cervical screening tests across the city.

Don’t Fear the Smear is calling on women and people with cervixes to attend their routine appointments and keep on top of their health.

Experts claim cervical cancer could be eliminated in the near future – making it the first form of the disease to ever be controlled – if everyone attended their routine appointments, known commonly as smear tests, and received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

Each day two women in the UK die as a result of cervical cancer, which is the most common form of the disease in women under 35 in Scotland and one of the four most common types in the entire world.

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However, in Glasgow, just 65.4% of eligible people – which is those over the age of 25 in most cases, take up the offer to attend.

Alarmingly, those who do attend are now facing even longer waits to receive their results and vital follow-up appointments.

Initial results should be received by the patient and GP around two weeks after the exam took place.

NHS Scotland, however, has apologised for delays and asked those waiting not to contact their GPs to chase up the information until eight weeks have passed since the smear test.

Meanwhile, those who test positive for HPV and thus require a more in-depth colposcopy have been warned wait times could be up to one year, with coronavirus backlog being blamed for the wait.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The NHS has faced the greatest challenge in its 74-year history, and it remains under extreme pressure as we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We must recognise the enormous impact the pandemic has had on our health service, with the pausing of all non-emergency treatment inevitably leading to planned care delays and an increase in waiting times.

“We continue to work with NHS Boards to maximise capacity and reduce the length of time people are waiting for appointments and treatment. The NHS recovery plan, which is backed by more than £1 billion of additional investment, sets out how we will increase NHS capacity as quickly as possible.

“We remain committed to finding cancer as early as possible which is why patients with suspected cancer are prioritised for diagnostics.”

Scotland is leading the way in fighting cervical cancer with a new drug designed for late-stage patients being approved by the NHS just last week.

However, fears have been raised that a long follow-up wait period could not only increase the risks of the HPV virus mutating into the dreaded cervical cancer but will also put people off attending their smear test.

Campaigners have warned anything less than prompt service can create the mindset of the tests being “pointless” which leads to drops in attendance and missed opportunities for detection.

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NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have the lowest uptake in smear tests in those aged 35 to 49, according to the most recent figures revealed by Public Health Scotland from 2020 to 2021.

Just 49.7% of people aged 25 to 29 years old attended theirs in the same period, making it the second lowest attendance for the age bracket in Scotland and the lowest for the health board area – only beating NHS Lothian with 46.5%.

Meanwhile, uptake in those aged 30 to 34 years old and 50 to 54 years old is also among the lowest in the country, with figures revealing 60.4% and 77.5% of people attended appointments respectively.

Those aged 55 and above show slightly higher uptake rates, yet they still fail to reach a higher than 77.5% uptake rate.

A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) apologised for any delays and insisted urgent follow-up appointments were being treated as a priority.

“We apologise to any patient either waiting on lab results following a smear test or for a follow-up colposcopy appointment. We understand the anxiety this can cause our patients and we would like to reassure all women that all urgent follow-on colposcopy cases continue to be prioritised, with assessments completed within four to five weeks.

“We are working hard to increase our colposcopy capacity in response to an increase in referral rates. This includes the prioritisation of colposcopy within existing gynaecology clinic footprint, additional recruitment of locum consultants with again focus on colposcopy and the development of a nurse-led colposcopy service.

“We continue to urge women to come forward for their screening appointment, as this continues to be the best chance to catch and review any abnormalities at the earliest possible time and increases patient outcomes in the long-term.”