A CERVICAL cancer charity is urging women in Wales to attend potentially lifesaving screening appointments, following a decrease in uptake in the previous five years.

Though uptake in Wales among women aged 25-64 dropped by just 0.2 percentage points, to 77.8 per cent for the five years to 2015/16, this continued a downward trend which extends across the UK.

The five-year rate in Wales has fallen every year since 2011/12, when it was 79.7 per cent.

Robert Music, chief executive at Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, described the 2015/16 decrease as "disappointing" and warned: "Three women lose their lives to cervical cancer every single day in the UK and not attending cervical screening is the biggest risk factor to developing the disease.

"We are especially concerned about the older age group, as our recent modelling work has shown that by 2040 incidences of cervical cancer in the UK will have increased by 16 per cent among 60 to 64 year-olds and 85 per cent among 70 to 74 year-olds," said Mr Music, who also warned that a 100 per cent increase in death rates among 60 to 64 year olds is also a very real possibility.

"I urge all women to take up their invitation for cervical screening. It is a five minute test but is one that could save your life.”

Cervical Screening Wales screened more than 204,000 women during 2015/16.

Dr Rosemary Fox, director of the screening division for Public Health Wales acknowledged the decrease but said; "We are pleased to see the overall number of women screened across Wales remains very high.

"The introduction of testing for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) for some samples has resulted in a reduction in the number of women needing to have repeat smears, which is a very good thing," she said.

"About 1,500 women die from cervical cancer in the UK each year, but we know that screening saves more than 1,000 lives a year.

"It is important to note that regular smear tests are the most effective way of detecting pre-cancerous cells in the cervix rather than a one-off test.

"The changes we have made to the way we invite women mean that cervical screening will be even more effective in the future."

Cervical screening aims to prevent cancer developing in the cervix and the neck of the womb.

From the age of 25 women are invited for free screening every three years. Women aged 50-64 are invited every five years.