ONE-in-five women in Wales are not attending potentially life-saving cervical screenings, a charity is warning.

At a time when the number of over-50s with cervical cancer is increasing, screening rates are declining, with one-in-four 25-29 year-olds not attending.

And although Wales has a higher rate of participation in cervical screening than other UK countries, the latest figures show a fall in participation rates over the past three years.

The charity Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust says the trend is worrying, and it has launched a campaign through social media site Twitter - #SmearForSmear - to help reverse it.

It is also calling for greater investment in targeted awareness campaigns for women of every age.

Last year, 75.8 per cent of 25-29 year-olds in Wales attended their screening, and while incidences of cervical cancer have declined among 25-49 year olds, the number of women aged 50 and over diagnosed with cervical cancer has risen in recent years.

Cervical screening coverage also declines as age increases, with 78.7 per cent of 50-54 year-olds attending screening, falling to 76.2 per cent of 55-59 year-olds, and 73.4 per cent of 60-64 year-olds.

The #SmearForSmear campaign - also available at www.jostrust.org.uk/smearforsmear - is being relaunched to mark the start today (SUN) of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, to encourage women of all ages to take up their screening invitation, in particular 25-29 year-olds.

“Although women in Wales are more likely to join in with the cervical screening programme than in some other parts of the UK, we are seeing small falls in participation each year, which is a worrying trend," said Rachel Jones, head of Cervical Screening Wales.

In the UK, 300,000 women are diagnosed with cervical abnormalities each year.

Eight women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every day, and three women die every day due to the disease.