Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help raise awareness of cervical cancer; and whether he is taking steps with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to help raise awareness of cervical cancer in other countries.

NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an early point.

Department of Health and Social Care officials work closely with colleagues in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to raise awareness of cervical cancer in lower and middle income countries. For example, the Government has committed £1.65 billion to Gavi from 2021 to 2025, which provides the human papillomavirus vaccine to help protect the most vulnerable girls from the leading cause of cervical cancer.