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Two lives are lost to cervical cancer every day. Cervical screening can stop cancer before it starts, yet the number of eligible women attending cervical screening is at a 20-year low. ‘Feeling embarrassed’ is one of the main reasons why women are not attending.

At the same time, 1.2 million women aged 25-35 are heading to salons for intimate waxing. And 3 in 4 women say that they would listen to advice given to them by beauty therapists.

If so many women are comfortable enough to strip off in front of a beautician, why are we still too embarrassed to take a potentially life-saving test?

An innovative cross sector partnership between beauty booking platform Treatwell and Public Health England, 'Life Saving Wax' is a UK wide initiative aimed at breaking down the barriers to cervical cancer prevention.

In close consultation with PHE, Treatwell trained their unique national network of beauty therapists to raise the issue of cervical screening with clients. Leveraging the unique relationship between therapist and client, beauty therapists were empowered to reposition screening as a vital part of the self-care routine.

Training was rolled out across the country, reaching thousands of women in the safe space of the salon treatment room and helping to positively impact uptake in cervical screening invitations over the course of the campaign.