Almost one in 10 Australian women avoid having cervical screens because they have a male GP, according to a survey. 

Findings by the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation released last week also show one third of women put off having a cervical screening because it’s “awkward”, while one quarter are “embarrassed”.  

The survey of 1000 women was released as part of the foundation’s campaign to eradicate cervical cancer by 2035. 

Nearly half the women surveyed were unaware that screening had changed in December 2017, when the three-yearly Pap smear was replaced with the five-yearly HPV cervical screening test.