Jade Goody’s high-profile battle with cervical cancer has boosted cancer screening

Jade Goody's high-profile battle with cervical cancer helped to dramatically reverse the downward trend in women going for screening, figures have shown.

The number of women aged 25 to 64 who underwent screening increased by 400,000 in 2008/09 from 3.2 million to 3.6 million, a report from the NHS Information Centre has revealed.

The overall number of women screened in the past five years rose from 78.6% in March 2008 to 78.9% in March 2009, the first time this percentage has increased since 2002.

And the increase in screening was even more prominent among younger women.

The report - Cervical Screening Programme, England 2008-09 - showed the number of women aged 25 to 49 who underwent screening in the previous three to three-and-a-half years increased from 69.3% in March 2008 to 72.5% in March 2009.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "These figures show the remarkable effect that Jade Goody's tragic case has had in reversing a downward trend in the number of young women attending cervical screening. Jade's bravery and openness in her fight against cervical cancer has brought home to young women across the country the importance of regularly going for these checks.

"As a result, nearly half a million extra women attended cervical screening, which will save the lives of hundreds of women in the years ahead. Work has already begun to ensure that we maintain this momentum and continue saving more lives."

Meawnhile, Goody's family has settled a High Court action over photographs taken of the reality star's private burial.

In a statement, solicitor-advocate Mark Thomson said that Mirror Group Newspapers and photo agency Newspics "have agreed to pay the family £35,000 in damages as well as their legal costs".

Goody's mother Jackiey Budden, her grandparents John and Sylvia Caddock, her aunt and uncle Angela and Trevor Cox, and her cousins Lee and Danny Andrews, brought the privacy action in respect of photographs taken of the burial on April 4.