Women aged between 25 and 60 are being urged to avail of free smear tests provided by CervicalCheck, the National Cervical Screening Programme.

The call came from CervicalCheck and the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) at the launch of their Pearl of Wisdom campaign, which is part of European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week.

Every year, around 300 women are newly diagnosed with cervical cancer in Ireland and 90 die from the disease. A smear test can detect early changes in the cells of the cervix before they become cancerous. These changes can then be treated, meaning that the cancer never gets a chance to develop.

A smear test only takes a few minutes to complete and all women aged between 25 and 60 can avail of the test free of charge every three to five years. Since it was launched in 2008, CervicalCheck has provided over two million free smear tests to more than one million women.

However, while over 78% of eligible women have taken part in the screening programme, many continue to avoid having smear tests and in particular, women over the age of 50 are less likely to take part.

The Pearl of Wisdom campaign is reminding all women that they still need smear tests, even if they have reached menopause and have finished having their families.

"Cervical cancer takes a long time to develop and often has no symptoms, which is why regular screening is so important. Over 78% of the eligible 1.1 million women in Ireland have availed of CervicalCheck. We want to increase this even further, so this week we are calling on women aged 25 to 60 to make sure they're up to date with their free smear test and to share the wisdom about cervical screening with other women in their lives," commented Dr Grainne Flannelly, clinical director of colposcopy at CervicalCheck.

Areas of lower uptake include Laois, Roscommon, Tipperary and the main urban areas of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway.

"Some 30,000 women die from cervical cancer each year in Europe and many of these deaths are preventable. Ireland has one of the best cervical cancer prevention programmes in Europe and it's completely free. I urge all women aged 25 to 60 to avail of their free smear tests," added Dr Philip Davies, director general of the European Cervical Cancer Association.

European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week runs until January 30.

For more information on CervicalCheck, click here