At what age should women start having cervical screening? In England screening begins at 25, but elsewhere in the United Kingdom it’s offered from the age of 20. Campaigners have questioned this since the death in February from cervical cancer of the reality television star Jade Goody, who was 27, and at last month’s BMA annual conference 68% of voters called to lower the screening age in England.

Now a large population based study across the UK has provided compelling evidence to support the English stance (doi:10.1136/bmj.b2968). Peter Sasieni and colleagues found that although screening was associated with a 60% reduction …