Patients skipping GP appointments because of cost or long wait times are dragging down cervical screening rates, a top epidemiologist warns.

Age-adjusted participation in cervical screening, based on five-year intervals, has declined from 81.1% of eligible patients in 2018-2023 to 78.1% in 2020-2025, according to reports from the Centre of Research Excellence in Cervical Cancer Control (C4) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The reports define participation as eligible women receiving at least one HPV screening test during a 5.5-year period, so women tested a few weeks late are counted.

All HPV tests, not just National Cervical Screening Program tests, are included.