Cancer Council WA is reminding women to make sure they are up to date with their cervical screening test, with the number of Wheatbelt women taking the test being below the state average.
New figures reveal the rates of new cases and deaths from cervical cancer have remained relatively unchanged in WA over the past 10 years.
Cancer Council WA regional education officer Melissa Pickering said anyone with a cervix between the age of 25 and 74 years should have regular cervical screening tests as part of their ongoing health and wellbeing checks.
"The latest data has revealed there were 6.8 new cases per 100,000 women in WA and 1.4 deaths per 100,000 WA women in 2017," Ms Pickering said.
"This translates to 88 Western Australian women being diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2017 and 20 women losing their life from the disease.
"While numbers of new cases and deaths have dropped significantly since the national screening program was introduced in 1991, most regions across WA still have a screening participation rate below the state rate of 55.4 per cent.
"In 2015-16 the Wheatbelt region had a cervical screening participation rate of 52.3 per cent, which is lower than the state rate of 55.4 per cent.
"This shows there is a large number of women who do not screen regularly or are not participating in screening and are therefore at risk of developing cervical cancer.
Ms Pickering said the best way to prevent cervical cancer was taking a cervical screening test every five years.
"We encourage women to use Cervical Cancer Awareness Week to tick it off their 'to do' list and book in their appointment before the decade comes to an end, as four out of five women who develop cervical cancer have either never screened or do not screen regularly."
Research from Cancer Council NSW published in The Lancet Public Health showed if vaccination and screening coverage throughout Australia was maintained at their current rates, cervical cancer was likely to be eliminated as a public health issue within 20 years.
"To achieve elimination, it's vital that women continue to participate in the National Cervical Screening Program and that girls and boys are vaccinated against HPV through the national HPV immunisation program," Ms Pickering said.
"Those who have previously had the pap test should have their HPV cervical screening test two years after their last Pap test, after which point if they have a normal result, they can move to five-yearly screening."
Australia transitioned to a new five-yearly HPV cervical screening test for those aged 25-74 in 2017, replacing the old two-yearly pap test.
The new test looks for the presence of HPV, the virus that causes almost all cervical cancers, and is expected to lower cervical cancer cases and mortality by at least 20 per cent.
For cancer information and support call Cancer Council WA on 13 11 20
