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Home-testing kits are to be offered to women as part of the NHS cervical screening programme in England.

Women who haven’t come forward for screening will be offered a home-testing kit for the HPV virus under the government’s upcoming 10 Year Health Plan.

Participation in cervical cancer screening currently sits at just 68.8 per cent - well below the NHS England target of 80 per cent, meaning over 5 million women are not up to date with their routine check-up.

Routine screening currently saves approximately 5,000 lives a year across England.

Michelle Kane, NHS director of screening, said: “There are a number of reasons that stop some women taking up the offer of screening and we hope the introduction of self-testing will encourage take up this life-saving test.

“The programme specifically targets those groups consistently missing appointments, with younger women, ethnic minority communities facing cultural hurdles, people with a disability and LGBT+ people all set to benefit.”

Anyone testing positive for HPV through self-sampling will be encouraged to attend a clinician-taken follow-up cervical screening test to check for cervical cell changes.

From July, women aged 25-49 who test negative for HPV in a clinician-taken test will be invited for their next test in five years, rather than three, following a recommendation by the UK National Screening Committee.

This is in line with clinical evidence that shows if a person tests negative for HPV they are extremely unlikely to go on to develop cervical cancer within the next decade.Home test kits to be offered as part of cervical screenin g