A UK woman has issued an urgent warning to other women after being diagnosed with cancer, which led her to a realisation.
Jasmin McKee, from Hampshire in England, was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 25 years old after delaying her routine pap smear.
In the UK, women were able to receive their pap smear once every three years, but NHS England chose to extend the period to screening for those without HPV history to five years.
Now 26, McKee explained that she first began to notice something wasn鈥檛 right when she started experiencing lower back pain and bleeding after sex in 2023, but believed it was caused by her copper coil contraceptive.
But in March 2024, when she attended her HPV screening, having delayed it because she heard about 鈥榟orror stories online鈥, she found out that she was HPV positive with a large number of abnormal cells.
Shockingly, McKee received her HPV vaccination in high school, which vaccinates against nine different types of HPV.
However, it does not completely protect a person from developing cancer, it simply minimises the risk.
Sadly, for McKee, she was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer which had spread to the surrounding tissue, leaving her 鈥榥umb鈥 and hiding the news from her family.
She said: 鈥淓verything just goes a bit numb鈥 it鈥檚 just such a big shock.
鈥淭he thought did go through my head of, 鈥榃hat am I going to tell my grandparents?鈥
鈥淚 actually didn鈥檛 tell my family for quite a while.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want the people that I love the most feeling sad for me. I just didn鈥檛 want them to worry.鈥
She received surgery in November 2024 and then radiotherapy in January 2025, but both methods were unsuccessful.
So, she began chemotherapy in April.
She is now expected to finish treatment in September 2025 but has created a GoFundMe campaign to help with the costs of living as she cannot work.
However, she said because of her diagnosis she has realised the importance of booking your cervical screenings and hit out at NHS England鈥檚 choice to extend the HPV screening for those between 25-49 to five years.
She said: 鈥淲hen there are big changes like this, it can feel like they (NHS England) are not really taking women鈥檚 health seriously.
鈥淚 think that was probably one of my first thoughts when I first read about the changes鈥 it can feel quite dismissive.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a scary thought that there could be women who go under the radar.鈥
She added: 鈥淚t [a cervical screening] won鈥檛 always lead to a diagnosis, but it鈥檚 just to be on the safe side.
鈥淓very three years is obviously a long time in itself, but I think a lot can happen in five years, and then someone might not know about cancer or something else until it鈥檚 too late, and it could have been prevented with more regular smear tests.
鈥淪o I do think [the change] was disappointing to read.鈥
An NHS England spokesperson said: 鈥淲e recognise that changes to cervical screening can seem worrying but want to reassure everyone that this new approach is based on robust scientific evidence and an expert recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee.
鈥淭he NHS cervical screening programme tests for human papillomavirus (HPV) and uses a better and more accurate test than before.
鈥淭his means if you test negative for HPV, you don鈥檛 need to be screened as often as your risk of developing cervical cancer is very low.
鈥淚f you test positive for HPV, we鈥檒l monitor you more closely with additional tests and follow-up appointments.
鈥淭his personalised approach ensures everyone receives the right level of screening based on their individual risk factors, providing better protection while reducing unnecessary procedures.鈥
If you鈥檝e been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.