Older women in Scotland are being urged to attend for regular cervical screening.
The plea comes after figures suggested a steady decline in uptake at a time when diagnoses are increasing.
One charity, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said some women may be putting their lives at unnecessary risk.
Director Robert Music said: “Cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease thanks to the cervical screening programme, so we are extremely worried about this trend in Scotland where women are ignoring their last invitation as this could potentially lead to an increase in incidence of the disease.”
Recent figures showed the proportion of women who are aged 55 to 59 attending regular screening dropped from about 82% to 74%.
Over 10 years, the number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer in this age group increased from 14 to 24, the charity said.
Health Secretary Alex Neill said: “Cervical screening saves around 5,000 lives in the UK every year and prevents eight out of 10 cervical cancers from developing.
“I would urge all eligible women in Scotland to find out about cervical screening so that they can be as informed as possible about the benefits of screening every three years.”
Research by the charity suggests almost one-third of British women aged between 50 to 70 believe the smear test to be unnecessary.