Pucker Up And Strip Off: Support Cervical Cancer Screening Awareness Week

From rapping about pap smears, through to lingerie donations, everyone's climbing aboard the cervical screening awareness bandwagon.

This week - June 8-14 - is cervical cancer screening awareness week.

Considering that each year, 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, chances are you have been affected by it.

A number of charities, celebrities and big name brands have found creative and fun ways to draw attention to the importance of cervical screenings, otherwise known as pap smears.

Love Your Lingerie

Sainsbury's will be donating 50p to cancer charity Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, for every pair of women's knickers sold in stores during awareness week.

As pink is the nation's favourite knicker colour, they've got a delicious selection of rosy hued lingerie just waiting for you to snap up.

This sounds like a GREAT excuse to go get yourself kitted out in some cute new skivvies.

Their knickers range between £3 and £10.

Pucker Up

The Red Lippy Project works in much the same way as Movember or the No Makeup Selfie.

It is designed to draw attention to a good cause and try to make some money for charity in the process.

The idea is to wear red lipstick all this week and tweet pics of it with the hashtag #redlippyproject and #makeamark, in order to raise awareness about cervical cancer.

The Red Lippy Project's founders Caroline Muhlich and Linda Andersson have now teamed up with clothing giant Topshop, who have brought out a limited edition red lippy.

A whopping 30 per cent of the profits from the Topshop - Red Lippy Project collaboration will go to the Red Lippy Project's cancer charity.

Get pouting!

The Sad Statistics

From a loved one suffering, to a friend's mum, or even just watching the sudden and awful decline of Jade Goody, you likely feel some connection with the disease.

And yet, despite this, in 2012, only 32 per cent of 25-29 year-olds answered their cervical screening invitations from the GP.

Interestingly, scientists estimate that, even despite this, screening still saves around 5,000 lives in the UK annually, by catching rogue cell development before it can evolve into anything more serious.

Getting screened is crucially important, but clearly the thought of that trip to the doc's still makes many women uncomfortable.

Pap Rap

Welsh comedian Nadia Kamil recognised this problem and, in response, she penned an amusing ode to getting a cervical screening, dubbed her YouTube 'Pap Rap'.

The song, which she set to the tune of Azealia Banks' '212', smiles in the face of cervical cancer smears, sympathising: "Ey yo, I know it's weird showing a stranger, your foof."

And continues: "Screening takes 30 seconds, it ain’t a thrill but it’s fine. Honestly, it’s fine.”

To show women just exactly how totally fine it is, she even live tweeted from her own smear test.

Proof, in case you needed it, that it really isn't that bad!

So listen up girls, as Nadia says in her rap, cancer of the cervix is number two most common and number five most deadly.

Getting a smear might not be as fun as a box of chocolates or half an hour in a puppy playpen, but it's important and quick, so get it done!

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