Jade Goody's battle boosts smear test take-up rates.

(From Aberdeen Press & Journal)

Byline: alison.middleton

REALITY TV star Jade Goody's high-profile battle against cervical cancer has resulted in more women in Tayside taking cervical smear tests.

NHS Tayside said the heightened public awareness which helped raise understanding of the disease and the importance of regular screening saw a 23% increase in the number of smears carried out in the region, during the first three months of 2009, compared with the same period last year.

All women aged between 20 and 60, who have ever been …