Health advocates are celebrating the release of a new DIY cervical screening test kit for women.

This test, available from today, will allow women to use a swab to detect the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes more than 95 percent of cervical cancers.

Te Whatu Ora National Screening Unit clinical lead Dr Jane O’Hallahan says this 'game-changing' test kit will encourage more people to screen themselves.

"At this point, you will need to seek out your provider- but the test is so much easier to do. You can do it yourself, it's a simple swab that you place 4 or 5 centimetres up- and move it around, take it out and put in a container. This will be a game changer."

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