Public Health England launches first national campaign for cervical screening
Public Health England is today launching “Cervical screening saves lives”, its first-ever national campaign for the procedure, which aims to turn around a long-term decline in women getting screened.
The ad campaign features various female relationships, including mothers and daughters, sisters, partners and friends, with one of the pair thanking the other for reminding them to go to their cervical screening.
The campaign will incorporate TV, video on demand, social media, digital, washroom posters and partnerships with Boots and Slimming World.
Speaking to Campaign, Sheila Mitchell, director of marketing at PHE, said there had been a “steady deterioration” in the proportion of women getting screened, with the exception of an upwards “blip” following the death of Jade Goody from cervical cancer, at the age of 27, in March 2009.
The focus on the importance of solidarity between female friends and family in the campaign reflected that “you’ve got to pull every lever you can think of pulling” in encouraging people to look after their health, she said. “Getting people to cajole each other is one of those effective methods.”
But it was also important to retain “some jeopardy” in the messaging, she added, which is why the campaign flags up the fact that on average, two women in the UK die every day from cervical cancer.
