LONDON, Aug. 29 -- For years, many of them scheduled the appointment and then cancelled it. Some never made the call at all. NHS England announced last week that 3.9 million women aged 25 to 64 who are overdue for cervical screening will soon receive self-sampling kits in the post, turning a clinic visit that millions have deferred into something they can manage at home, without a waiting room or a clinical encounter they found reason to avoid.

The programme, confirmed on August 25, represents the most significant single expansion of England's cervical cancer prevention infrastructure in a generation. It targets women who have missed at least one routine screening invitation and have not had a smear test within the past 12 months. That g...