WOMEN across Wales are being encouraged to attend for regular smear tests – thanks to a unique ‘sticker’ campaign which is being supported by local pharmacies.

More than 700 community pharmacies have teamed up with Cervical Screening Wales to run a special promotional ‘sticker’ campaign in a bid to encourage more younger women to take up the offer of free smear tests.

The ‘Screening for Life’ health campaign, which is being run throughout the whole of July, has been organised by Cervical Screening Wales in an attempt to raise the profile of the NHS screening programme. Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer in women worldwide, and going for a smear test regularly can prevent around 75% of cases of cervical cancer from developing.

During July, every woman aged between 20 and 30 who collects a prescription from one of the 725 participating pharmacies across Wales will have a special promotional sticker put onto her collection bag.

The stickers carry the ‘Have It’ slogan, which featured in the Cervical Screening Wales TV advert, which last aired earlier this year.

Although cervical screening is offered to all women in Wales aged between 20-64 every three years, the age group of 20-30 has been specifically targeted as it is the group with the poorest attendance for screening.

Screening Promotion Officer, Dafydd Snelling, who is responsible for the Campaign commented: “Cervical Screening Wales is very grateful to all the participating pharmacies and health boards across Wales.

“Research shows that around 94% of the UK population visit a community pharmacy every year – which means they are perfectly placed to deliver and promote health awareness campaigns.

“We ran a similar campaign for breast screening earlier this year, and we are hoping that the smear sticker, leaflets and posters will prove popular in encouraging and reminding younger women to attend.”

Each participating pharmacy has received a special pack containing stickers, posters, promotional leaflets and staff factsheets to enable them to promote the NHS service.

Claire Howells is one of the pharmacists backing the campaign. She works for Boots and said: “As pharmacists I feel we can play an active role in raising awareness of cervical screening and highlight the importance of this to women’s health. To help support the campaign my own branch of Boots, which is based at Morfa in Swansea, will also be holding an information day on July 15th.”