Surge in women choosing to self-collect samples for cervical cancer screening

Australian women are increasingly choosing to screen for cervical cancer by collecting their own samples in seconds at their doctor's office, in a method that is widely thought to be more comfortable.

While the surge in participants taking up the screening is encouraging, doctors say many people who are eligible for the testing still don't know that self-collection an option.

Kerrie Castor avoided testing for cervical cancer for 10 years.

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"Last time I did it, it was uncomfortable. It hurt a little bit and on the list of priorities it never sort of came up," she said.

The 53-year-old's reluctance changed when given the option to do it herself in private at the GP clinic.

"Just did it, took 30 seconds and just straight back in to see the GP," she said.

"If I hadn't gotten tested who knows what would've happened."

The do-it-yourself vaginal test is considered a more comfortable alternative to doctors using a speculum and brush when testing for the cancer-causing human papillomavirus.

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"From the point of view of the HPV test, they're both as accurate as each other so there's really not a huge difference between them," RANZ College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Anna Clare said.

The Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer (ACPCC), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), ACON, and the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative have teamed up in the new 'Own It' campaign to promote the new self-collect test.

The latest data shows in just one year alone, the number of tests performed using self collection swabs rose from 26 per cent to 40 per cent.

But doctors say there's still low awareness, particularly among diverse communities.

About 1000 Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year.

Of those, 72 per cent of women have never screened or aren't up to date.

"About 200 women died from cervical cancer and it's almost entirely preventable," Clare said.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story Dr Mariam Chaalan's name was incorrectly spelled in the video player above

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