<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australian women are increasingly choosing to screen for cervical cancer by collecting their own samples in seconds at their doctor's office, in a method that is widely thought to be more comfortable.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While the surge in participants taking up the screening is encouraging, doctors say many people who are eligible for the testing still don't know that self-collection an option.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kerrie Castor avoided testing for cervical cancer for 10 years.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/canadian-man-arrested-for-carrying-crocodile-skull-at-delhi-airport/e6882c5b-e540-4fb8-8745-bc597aa7aac4" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Baby crocodile skull found in man's bag at Indian airport</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Last time I did it, it was uncomfortable. It hurt a little bit and on the list of priorities it never sort of came up," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 53-year-old's reluctance changed when given the option to do it herself in private at the GP clinic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Just did it, took 30 seconds and just straight back in to see the GP," she said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/cervical-cancer-testing-women/443414a7-86b5-4718-a0a5-7fcbc3ee792d" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If I hadn't gotten tested who knows what would've happened."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The do-it-yourself vaginal test is considered a more comfortable alternative to doctors using a speculum and brush when testing for the cancer-causing human papillomavirus.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/wa-coogee-beach-dead-mackerel/a12ad5af-a204-4353-b144-e4da91781b64" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>WA beach closed after hundreds of dead fish wash up</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"From the point of view of the HPV test, they're both as accurate as each other so there's really not a huge difference between them," RANZ College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Anna Clare said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The latest data shows in just one year alone, the number of tests performed using self collection swabs rose from 26 per cent to 40 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But doctors say there's still low awareness, particularly among diverse communities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About 1000 Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Of those, 72 per cent of women have never screened or aren't up to date.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"About 200 women died from cervical cancer and it's almost entirely preventable," Clare said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" title="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>:</span></strong></em><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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