Minority ethnic women more likely to miss cervical cancer screenings in pandemic, study finds

Pap smear kit to test for papoloma virus and cervical cancer
Jodi Jacobson/Getty Images
Charlie Duffield25 August 2020

Minority ethnic women are less likely than white women to attend cervical cancer screenings as a result of the pandemic, according to a study for Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.

Four in 10 said they would feel unsafe attending a doctor's surgery due to the coronavirus pandemic, research reported by the Guardian suggests.

And black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women were found to be twice as likely than white women to be strongly worried about contracting the virus.

The study also found that BAME women are more than twice as likely than white women to believe that delaying cervical cancer screening is the safest thing to do at the moment.

In total, 2000 women were interviewed - 1,752 white and 225 BAME - and the report comes as 2.5m appointments of cancer screening, tests and treatments have been delayed due to the pandemic

Human papillomavirus screening set
Shutterstock / Beate Panosch

The study also found BAME women are a third more likely than white women to feel unsafe visiting a doctor's surgery.

White women are twice as likely as BAME women to say the virus has not affected how they would feel about attending a screening.

Some 14.6 per cent of white women strongly agree with needing more information about safety measures which would be put in place at a screening appointment, compared with 26.7 per cent of BAME women.

BAME women are almost twice as likely than white women to say that knowing other people who have been screened and felt safe would make them more likely to have a smear test if it was due.

Overall, the research shows how BAME women are now less likely to attend cervical cancer screening appointments, and it emphasises the reproductive healthcare inequalities which have existed during the pandemic.

Doctor (gynecologist or psychiatrist) consulting and examining woman patient's health in medical clinic or hospital health service center
Shutterstock / Chinnapong

Robert Music, chief executive of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, expressed his worry, and said: “We don’t know when it will end and if we do not address these concerns now then health inequalities will continue to widen, which will simply lead to deaths which could have been avoided.

"While Covid-19 has brought in additional barriers, we cannot forget that the wide range of barriers that existed before the pandemic, including psychological, cultural, physical and literacy, have not gone away.

“It has been widely reported that people from ethnic minority backgrounds have potentially higher risk of Covid-19, so it is not surprising this is leading to anxiety or concern about attending cervical screening … Cervical screening is the best protection against cervical cancer, so we must focus on providing the information and support people need to feel confident and safe to attend.”

Meanwhile, Dr Christine Ekechi, a medical adviser to the Eve Appeal which funds research into gynaecological cancers, said: “Whilst some women are considered high risk for Covid-19 including women from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority groups, it is also important to consider the possible risk of cervical cancer if women do not attend for their test.”

She added: “Cervical cancer is easily preventable with this simple and quick screening test. It is therefore important to reassure women of the tremendous efforts being made by healthcare professionals to ensure that they remain safe when accessing services during this time.”

Dr Raj Patel, deputy director of primary care for NHS England, said: “NHS services are safe and people need to come forward for essential care, checks and treatment … I would strongly advise anyone invited for a cervical smear test to attend because screening saves lives.”

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