Hello and thanks for your post,

I am sorry to hear that  you know someone at a young age who  has been diagnosed with  cervical cancer. I can understand how this can make you worry about your own health.

I will try if I can to help reassure you.

I am sure that your mum had your best interests at heart when she decided to refuse the vaccine. With the recent press releases the vaccine has shown huge benefits but that is after several years.  It takes time to collect this data so try not to blame your mum.

If you missed the vaccine when you were between the ages of 11-13 you can still have it on the NHS up to the age of 25. It may still have some benefit but the benefits are greater before you become sexually active. You may want to discuss this with your GP to see what they advise.

The HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) virus is an incredibly common virus with 80%  of the population being affected at some point in their life.  It is the HPV virus which is responsible for changes in the cells. These changes are not cancer and for cancer to develop this usually takes many years.

The cervical  screening programme is on the whole a very effective programme that aims to identify any cell changes, treat and then monitor these changes until they go back to normal.

The cervical screening programme starts at the age of 25. It is rare to get cervical cancer before the age of 25. Have a look at what the NHS say about the cervical screening programme about how you will be invited  here

You can read more about this programme here

The smear or pap test is done at your local GP. The smear test first looks to see whether the HPV virus is present. If it is there, then the sample is sent to a laboratory to see if there are any changes to the cells.

There is a good website called Jo's Trust which has more  information about HPV and some commonly asked questions. Have a look here

If at any stage you have the HPV virus your own immunity normally gets on top of this. It does help if you are not a smoker as this can make it harder to clear the virus from your body.

We do have an excellent cervical screening programme in this country. The most important thing that you can do, is to attend your cervical screening appointments when you are invited to do so, so any problems can be picked up at an early stage.

I do hope that this has been helpful. Do look at the links and please can get back to us if you have any further questions.

You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take Care,

Catherine