Many GPs are using Cervical Cancer Awareness Week to not only encourage those who have neglected or missed a scheduled CST but to book in for other life-saving tests that have been postponed during the pandemic.

Although cervical cancer can be effectively treated when detected early, of the 9 in 100,000 Australian women diagnosed every year with the disease, two deaths will statistically coincide.

Murrumbidgdee primary health network chairperson and local GP Jodi Culbert is advocating that women and those with a cervix over the age of 25 book in for appointments that have been postponed during the last 18 months.

"The message is to not to delay, and also to pick up on appointments that you may have missed due to other distractions and priorities throughout the COVID pandemic," she said.

"We know that up to about 50 per cent of people may have missed a scheduled appointment for important screenings such as cervical cancer and other illnesses during this time, so we're just reminding people to get that test done and to not put it off."

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According to the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation (ACCF), 50 per cent of women are not aware that a pap smear, which would test for cell changes in the cervix, is no longer used to test for the disease.

"The cervical screening tests pick up on cell changes earlier in the cycle, so we're picking up things that might cause a change, rather than picking up cell changes in themselves," Dr Culbert said.

"We're confident that the spacing can be as long as five years between appointments and also that the testing is picking up things much earlier."

The ACCF also reports that screenings may be avoided due to 'embarrassment', but Dr Culbert believes healthy conversations about the procedure may help break down the stigma.

"There's no doubt there's a lot of awkwardness and embarrassment about having tests of that nature and the way to break that down is not so much from what I or other doctors might say, but from people who've had the tests themselves letting others know that it's not quite as bad as it might seem," she said.

"Though there are some who have certainly had a poor experience having a test, where it might have been painful or more embarrassing than first thought, or they've had some sort of trauma in their life which makes it very uncomfortable to be in those sorts of situations.

"If that was the case, that would be good to talk to your health professional about that and for some of those people they may be eligible to do a self-test which is a really helpful way of getting over those issues for people that have had a really difficult time."

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